Perhaps it is my Mark Barron legacy trauma, but I think it goes beyond one player. Over the last 10 years, how many strong safeties have been worthy of a top-10 draft pick?
Derwin James' only weakness, I read, is his deep cover skills. But in today's NFL -- a passing league -- isn't that the most important skill for a safety? Particularly in our scheme, where the two safeties are interchangeable? He would be a strong and a free safety in our scheme. If he is weak in pass coverage, wouldn't teams target him? Don't we need both our starting safeties to be able to cope with Matt Ryan (and Julio Jones), Drew Brees, and Cam Newton?
If Nelson and Chubb aren't there, my instinct would be to take a corner, a pass rusher, a DT like Vita Vea, or an OT, or I'd trade back. I would NOT take a strong safety at Nr. 7. But I know PR likes James, and I defer to their expertise. What are the Board's thoughts?
