Thursday, April 13, 2000
Safety pool 'disappointing'
Bengals lucky they don't need to draft one
BY Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer
In the Bengals' draft, it's safe to say one won't see safeties Saturday.
Any possible picks there would come Sunday or not at all. The team almost surely won't consider safeties in Saturday's first three rounds.
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TOP SAFETIES
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• 1. Deon Grant, Tennessee. He has good size (6-foot-2, 209 pounds) and was a college sprinter. Tied for the Division I-A interception lead last year with nine and totaled 69 tackles.
• 2. Barrett Green, West Virginia. Played strong safety two years, then outside linebacker two years, but might project higher as a safety. Had four interceptions in 1997.
• 3. Mike Brown, Nebraska. Would Mike Brown like Mike Brown? And vice versa? This talent led his team in tackles three consecutive seasons, totaling 96 tackles this fall.
• 4. Rogers Beckett, Marshall. Reliable free safety is a “center fielder,” making the tough tackles of breakaway runners. Not exceptionally speedy.
• 5. Aric Morris, Michigan State. A strong safety who excels at run support. Three-year starter who totaled 132 tackles this fall.
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“I wouldn't say we have a pressing need there (having) Cory Hall, Tremain (Mack) and Darryl Williams and re-signing Ty Howard,” defensive backs coach Ray Horton said. “We'll be in the market for one more young guy.
“You can get a good guy in the fourth or fifth round. That's status quo.”
It's good the Bengals don't need great ones. There aren't any.
“The secondary (pool) as a whole is disappointing, and the safeties are very disappointing,” said Jerry Jones, publisher of The Drugstore List. “And this is an area where virtually everyone needs help.”
The consensus top player available is Deon Grant, a free safety from Tennessee. He tied for the NCAA interception lead this fall with nine, but shy tackling and a so-so 40-yard dash time (4.6 seconds) may have dropped him from first-round consideration.
“He's a wonderful pass defender, but he is not an aggressive player against the run,” Jones said. “When they played the (Fiesta) Bowl game, his inability to hit and tackle was terribly obvious.”
Next is Barrett Green from West Virginia. He played both strong safety and outside linebacker in college but projects higher as a safety.
Then there's the best name on the board: Nebraska's Mike Brown.
If he picks Brown, Bengals president Mike Brown wouldn't be the first to be confused with him. The Cornhuskers star was fre quently misidentified at Nebraska as fellow defensive back Ralph Brown (no relation).
A possible lower-round pick would be Marshall free safety Rogers Beckett, who has good size (6-foot-11/2, 208 pounds) and was a three-year starter.
“He has been a very productive player,” Horton said. “I think he plays outstanding ball.”
Tinker Keck from the University of Cincinnati is rated the 12th-best safety by Blaise Hils' NFL Futures Report.
Though a serious knee injury slowed him after a super junior year, Keck remains a steady performer and is a strong punt returner. He won the 1997 Conference-USA Special Teams Player of the Year award.
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