Eagles 2016 NFL Draft preview: Safety

At the safety position, the Eagles' starters are set. Malcolm Jenkins signed a contract extension this offseason, and the team was able to sign Rodney McLeod away from the Rams in free agency.

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Here are five safeties who could make sense for the Eagles:

Karl Joseph, West Virginia (5'11, 197)

I don't even care that the Eagles have no shot of drafting Karl Joseph, as he isn't going to last until the third round. Maybe if the Eagles trade Sam Bradford to the Broncos and can somehow end up with their first-round pick? Whatever.

Again, I don't care. I'm profiling him anyway. While he doesn't have tremendous size at 5'11, 197, Joseph is one of the meanest, nastiest players in college football. I'm just going to let his highlight reels do the talking. Here's Joseph killing people during his freshman (freshman!) year:

And here are his junior year highlights:

Joseph is a guy who looks like he was born to play football. If his medical evaluations from an ACL tear pass the doctors' approvals, he should be a first-round pick.

Draft Projection: Late first round

Jeremy Cash, S, Duke (6’0, 212)

Cash doesn't play a ton of deep safety, and is almost more like a linebacker. He has good size for a safety and plays with a physical demeanor.

Cash's numbers the last three seasons are awesome:

38 tackles for loss and nine forced fumbles in just 39 games from the safety position is absolutely ridiculous.

If Jim Schwartz is open to adding a linebacker/safety hybrid type, Cash could be a great fit.

Draft projection: Second-Third round

Darian Thompson, Boise State (6'2, 208)

Thompson is a more traditional safety than Jeremy Cash above (although still versatile), and a ball hawk. Throughout his college career, Thompson had 19 interceptions. He also has great size, at 6'2, 208, and can play in the box. If he somehow lasted until the third round, the Eagles would have to give him serious consideration, even with Jenkins and McLeod in place already.

Draft projection: Second-Third round

Sean Davis, Maryland (6'1, 201)

Davis played CB at Maryland, and he reminds me a bit of Eagles CB Eric Rowe, in that he has great size and he lit up the Combine. His measurables compared with other corners competing at the Combine since 1999:

The difference is that Rowe showed good coverage ability in college while Davis often struggled in man coverage. At the next level, he'll likely move to safety. Davis is a big hitter who is willing to throw his body around. Over the last three seasons, Davis has racked up an extraordinarily impressive 306 tackles, and in 2015, he forced five fumbles as a cornerback.

Some team may fall in love with his size/athleticism and draft him a little too early, but if he were to fall to the third round, that would be decent value.

Draft projection: Second-Third round

K.J. Dillon, West Virginia (6'0, 210)

Dillon was the lesser-known of WVU's safeties, and frankly, he wasn't on my radar at all heading into the week of Senior Bowl practices. However, in Mobile, he showed impressive cover skills and had a few nice pops on running backs. He could be a late-round developmental player.

Draft projection: Fifth round