Florida’s Matt Elam developed into the best all-around safety this season. He finished the regular season second on Florida in tackles and first in interceptions. Elam, who is a junior, knows how to time a hit and has the hip fluidity to move around in coverage.
2013 NFL Draft safety rankings
The safety class doesn’t boast a singular talent like Mark Barron in last year’s class. Instead, there is a lot of depth and variety this year.
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Elam is just barely ahead of Kenny Vaccaro of Texas. Vaccaro has excellent body control to make a play on the ball in the air. He can also lay a big hit, but relies on that too much and gets burned.
There is a nice amount of coverage safeties this year, including Phillip Thomas of Fresno State. He parlayed a nation-leading eight interceptions into a Senior Bowl invitation. Georgia’s Bacarri Rambo had an up and down season, but can make big plays in pass coverage. D.J. Swearinger of South Carolina is so good in coverage the Gamecocks lined up him at cornerback at times this season.
There is also bigger safeties like T.J. McDonald of Southern Cal and Robert Lester of Alabama who can lay a hit.
1. Matt Elam | 5’10, 206 pounds | Safety | Florida *
2. Kenny Vaccaro | 6’1, 215 pounds | Safety | Texas
3. Shawn Williams | 6’1, 217 pounds | Safety | Georgia
4. Tony Jefferson | 5’10, 212 pounds | Safety | Oklahoma *
5. Eric Reid | 6’2, 208 pounds | Safety | LSU *
6. Phillip Thomas | 6’1, 215 pounds | Safety | Fresno State
7. T.J. McDonald | 6’3, 205 pounds | Safety | Southern California
8. Robert Lester | 6’2, 210 pounds | Safety | Alabama
9. Bacarri Rambo | 6’0, 218 pounds | Safety | Georgia
10. D.J. Swearinger | 6’0, 212 pounds | Safety | South Carolina
11. John Boyett | 5’10, 205 pounds | Safety | Oregon
12. Ty Zimmerman | 6’1, 203 pounds | Safety | Kansas State *
13. Shamarko Thomas | 5’10, 206 pounds | Safety | Syracuse
14. Lamarcus Joyner | 5’8, 195 pounds | Safety | Florida State *
15. Antone Exum | 6’1, 224 pounds | Safety | Virginia Tech *
16. Jordan Kovacs | 6’0, 202 pounds | Safety | Michigan
17. CJ Barnett | 6’0, 202 pounds | Safety | Ohio State *
18. Zeke Motta | 6’2, 215 pounds | Safety | Notre Dame
19. Vaughn Telemaque | 6’2, 200 pounds | Safety | Miami
20. Drew Frey | 6’3, 212 pounds | Safety | Cincinnati
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