Reed Doughty

[GoSkins!]

Originally Posted by RMSkins

Obviously I am in the minority here but I just don't think Reed is a starting caliber NFL safety. I think Reed is a more than adequate backup safety, and great special teams player for us, but nothing more. I like Reed a lot and I hope that he proves my wrong but I just don't trust him back there.

The reality is that Reed is a late round draft pick who we hope turns out to be a solid contributer. Anything more than that is gravy. With that said, the way the defense is set up plays to his strengths. He is an excellent tackler and is playing in a backfield with a bunch of 1st and 2nd round talent and, except for Springs, we are young.

If I compare that to say... d-line, then I see that we have glaring needs there by comparison. On the d-line we have a potential stud in Andre Carter but then we fall off fast. Griffith can be great when healthy, but he has struggled hard lately. Same with Daniels but he is a lesser impact even when healthy. Our d-line youth is filled with late round picks that we are praying pan out. This is the area we need to shore up first early in the draft.

I don't see anything wrong with bringing in competition for Reed, but we may be best served finding a good coverage safety role player to swap out with him on passing downs late in the draft or as a free agent.