Green Bay Packers: Four Box Safety Draft Prospects
By Kenny Jilek
It may seem like the Green Bay Packers are pretty set at the safety position with Darnell Savage and Adrian Amos doing a great job on the back end in recent years, but there’s one more spot in this defense for a safety to fill.
The Packers play a lot of nickel defense with five defensive backs, and new defensive coordinator Joe Barry likes to use versatile pieces in many different ways in his scheme. This means that a third safety that plays in the box is a necessity and a starting position that gets a lot of snaps in this defense. With Raven Greene still a free agent, the Packers haven’t filled that void yet, and while they have an in-house option like Vernon Scott, that’s not the most inspiring alternative.
Having a dynamic, strong safety to play down at the line of scrimmage and be moved all over the field would make this defense a scary thing. Last season, the middle-of-the-field coverage was lackluster, and run defense filling gaps from linebackers could have been much better as well. The Packers could solve these problems if they nail a pick of a versatile box safety, and there are guys at different spots on the draft board that they could target.
Divine Deablo – Virginia Tech
All four of these guys have similar builds that make them fit to play in the box, but when you look at Deablo, he looks the most like a linebacker and the most like someone that would play down by the line of scrimmage. His physical limitations and advantages are exactly what you’d expect from that body type as he is strong but not very fast.
As someone who’s able to play up at the line of scrimmage, the Virginia Tech coaching staff used him everywhere, from as a linebacker to an edge defender to a high safety. This versatility may be his best asset as he isn’t an explosive athlete and doesn’t do any one thing extremely well.
In coverage, he sometimes lacks the quickness to stay with guys in their breaks, but when he can get up and press and be physical at the top of the route, he can at least stay with most tight ends. He also has good hands and ball skills when the ball is in the air.
He does dissect plays pretty well and sniffs out screens, but his pursuit and effort when he is farther away from the ball are lackluster, and his tackling is ok but leaves something to be desired.
Deablo can be versatile in the box in the NFL but has no business being lined up deep. The Packers don’t have much need for that right now, so he could be a fit, but as a projected top-100 pick, he doesn’t seem worth the draft capital.