Dallas Cowboys 2017 NFL Draft: Five Safety Prospects

Eddie Jackson, SS – Alabama

Strengths

Alabama strong safety Eddie Jackson played corner before moving to safety and he played it well.  As a safety he still displays many of those same traits that made him a good corner.  He tracks the ball as well as you could ask for and makes plays on the ball when the opportunity presents itself.  His good hands allowed him to snag of a few passes in his time with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The senior defensive back has excellent spacial awareness, a testament to his work off the field.  Rarely will he be seen taking a bad angle to a ball carrier because he is football smart and plays with discipline.

Weaknesses

He doesn’t appear to be as natural a fit at safety as he does at corner back.  He lacks ideal size to play strong safety at the next level against the big athletic tight ends in the league.  As a tackler he will never incite fear in his opponents because he just simply doesn’t lay the wood.

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Outlook for the Dallas Cowboys

I think he falls to the late third or early fourth round if he is being drafted to play safety.  If a team values his potential as a corner back he may be drafted a bit higher.  His lack of physicality will give teams pause, but his ability to catch as a defensive back will make him worth the consideration.

In Dallas he is a corner back that would need time to develop and compete in training camp.  There is no way, even though he takes great angles, they should release one of their physical strong safeties for a contact shy rookie.  In all reality I don’t think he fits in Dallas unless he is available in the fifth round or later.