Free Safety & Strong Safety: Eagles’ new “glamor” jobs?

As Ed Reed serpentined his way among 11 Philadelphia Eagles last November, it quickly became apparent — nobody on the field could stop him. Though he made the interception seven yards deep in his own end zone, the dumbfounded offensive players now charged with tackling Reed were helpless. But it wouldn’t have mattered if the Eagle defenders or the Philadelphia police department were on the field chasing Reed; they wouldn’t have caught him, either. Not with his breakaway speed, slick moves and pitch-perfect instincts.

 

If there were fans in Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium who were surprised to see a safety making the longest interception return in NFL history (breaking his own record in the process), well, shame on them. This is the 21st century, people, and safeties can do it all. Tackle. Cover. Blitz. Run. “I’m a football player,” Reed says.

His performance on that 107-yard return proved it. But there was more — much more. He returned another pick for a score against Cleveland. He forced a fumble and returned it 22 yards for a TD against Washington. And he scored again in the playoffs when he sprinted 64 yards with an interception at Miami. Not coincidentally, the Ravens won all those games.

Thanks to the likes of Reed, the defining defensive moments of the 2008 season didn’t come courtesy of pass-rushing ends, man-eating linebackers or Hummer-sized tackles. Nope, it was the safeties, the defense’s third line — and once paid like the NFL’s Third World — who dropped your jaws and got you screaming. It was Reed punking quarterbacks and Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu hammering helpless receivers. Even the secondary’s leading men, the shutdown corners, couldn’t get spots on the highlight reel because no quarterback was stupid enough to challenge them. Instead, NFL passers tried the middle, and boy, did they pay a price.

“It’s gotten to the point where you have to know where the safety is,” Ravens defensive backs coach Mark Carrier says. “They’re changing the game, and if you make a mistake, they make you pay.”

There was a time when the safety position was the last stop for cornerbacks who were no longer capable of tracking speedy receivers, or where college D-backs were sent when they ­didn’t measure up to demanding NFL coverage standards. In the secondary hierarchy, safeties were found behind “shutdown” corners and even nickelbacks, and they were described as “headhunters” or “center fielders,” but rarely as “complete players.” They ran the errands, acted as stunt doubles and took out the trash. A starring role? Hardly.

But Reed, Polamalu, Bob Sanders, Tennessee’s Chris Hope and others like them are changing that. Now, they’re the leading men.

“They said safeties can’t cover, but they can’t say that now because we’re different athletes now,” Reed says. “Put me on a receiver in the slot, Coach. I’ll cover him. If you need me on the corner, I’ll play corner.”

Reed led the NFL with nine interceptions last year (2008) and broke up 16 more passes. He basically played as if he were the intended receiver on every pass play deeper than 10 yards. But he ­wasn’t the only safety with a carnivorous approach to the passing game. Polamalu tied for second in the league with seven steals. And who can forget his backbreaking interception return for a touchdown against Reed’s Ravens in the AFC title game? Tennessee’s Michael Griffin had seven picks. So did Green Bay’s Nick Collins.

Safeties aren’t just found in coverage, preventing the deadly long plays that can turn a game. They blitz, tackle, recover fumbles and play the kind of complete game that might just lead kids to announce proudly, “When I grow up, I want to play safety!”

“The game has evolved, and the safety position has also evolved,” Wilson says. “It used to be that you used to just fill a guy in to play deep middle or cover the tight end. Now it’s different. The safety is a hybrid or the x-factor.”

Brian Dawkins, one of the pioneers of the current model, has seen a big change in attitude toward the position since he came into the league in 1996. “Now, guys want to be safeties, instead of being thrown there,” says Dawkins, who moved from Philadelphia to Denver in the offseason. “It used to be corners who couldn’t cover or receivers who couldn’t catch were sent there. They were told, ‘Stand there, and don’t let anything get behind you.’”

A lot of the change has come as a result of offenses that used to feast on one-dimensional back-line patsies. Receivers salivated so much they needed bibs when a safety walked over to cover them one-on-one. By putting more stress on the position with unconventional formations and hybrid skill players, teams can exploit weaknesses or force defensive coordinators to substitute more, thereby making their teams vulnerable.

“It used to be a safety was 6-1, 220 pounds, and could tackle all day,” Hope says. “The offense saw that and created mismatches by putting mobile tight ends in the slot. (Safeties) can’t be like that now. You have to cover or you don’t have a chance. You have to make an impact in the passing and the running games.”

If the work has become more demanding, it’s being offset by an increase in the money teams are starting to spend on the position. Carrier, a three-time Pro Bowl safety who played for the Bears, Lions and Redskins, says safeties used to get paid “just above the kickers and punters.” No more. Two years ago, Polamalu signed a five-year extension worth $33 million. Reed’s six-year deal, inked in ’06, is worth $40 mil. Tennessee’s Hope got six years and $30 million the same season. “You can see it,” Dawkins says. “It’s a slow grind and slow climb. But you can no longer look at a safety and not pay him for what he does.” It’s still not cornerback money, though. During the offseason, Oakland re-signed Nnamdi Asomugha to a three-year, $45.3 million deal. Safeties are making progress, but they have a ways to go.

Reed is a fabulous candidate to lead the position on that journey. Since entering the league, he has become a big-play specialist, the kind of front man for the position who draws attention and creates excitement. Big hitters have always been found on the back line, but the coast-to-coast scavengers who prey on weak and wobbly passes are more in evidence today.

Part of it is the offenses they are facing. When there were two backs, a tight end and a pair of wideouts, safeties were, well, safeties. They protected against disaster. Now they’re asked to play a bigger role in pass defense. Dawkins came into the league just as the Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf” was ascending. “One of the thoughts on how to contend with that was to have a safety who was aggressive and could bring the hammer but could also step into the slot and cover that third receiver, so defenses didn’t have to do a lot of switching,” Dawkins says.

The offensive trend has continued. Teams still want to run the ball, but even when they do that, they’re often splaying multiple receivers across the field, forcing safeties to perform in space. “Teams are spreading you out,” Carrier says. “Offenses are getting better athletes on the field to get better matchups. If you don’t have the players who can match up, you’re behind the eight ball. Players like Ed, who can perform in any facet of the game — goal line, nickel, man-to-man — give you an advantage.”

 

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It just gets better from there, a highly recommended destination for offseason reading as we ponder the future of the Safety position in Philadelphia, and how the candidates for the position shake out after Training Camp.  Right now, I count seven Safety applicants, most of them rookies, on the team roster, with no doubt several free agent tryouts or trades still possible. I like Quintin Mikell and I like Quintin Demps, the veterans, to make the team…but I believe the Eagles’ new “Glamor Safeties” are still unofficially from “parts unknown”…