2013 NFL Draft Rankings: Safety Big Board 2

The 2013 Safety class is still very deep after a grueling draft process that had the Senior Bowl, Combine, Pro Days and ongoing private workouts. The process has culled many talented safeties into several tiers. There still are 11 legitimate candidates that can go within 5 rounds. While not a critical need due to several signings in free agency, the Titans can stand to upgrade their backup safeties. You can find my previous rankings here.

Kenny Vaccaro is arguably the consensus top safety in the class. FIU's Johnathan Cyprien barely just gets the nod over LSU's Eric Reid thanks to a better overall performance on the draft circuit and Reid being so inconsistent during his junior year. Elam gets knocked down a few pegs due to his lack of height (which leads to bigger receivers and tight ends easily beating him over the top) but he's a consistent enough playmaker to warrant top 5 status. Another thing knocking Elam down is the way he handled his recruitment (it's a slightly bigger knock on Urban Meyer, however but Meyer essentially enabled Elam to do it the way he did). The high flyer of the board is South Carolina's DJ Swearinger. He brings a certain physicality to the game that many don't have. I would compare him to a Bernard Pollard with better athleticism. A first time entrant to the board is Ga Southern's JJ Wilcox. He's a very little known do it all safety who returned kicks, played receiver, and running back. Wilcox had a good Senior Bowl outing.

Just Missed: Shawn Williams (UGA), Shamarko Thomas (Syracuse), Tony Jefferson (Oklahoma)