comparing 2 UT Safeties

[TXCowboyVol]

I truly believe that the torch has officially been passed from Ed Reid to Earl Thomas as the top ballhawking S. Will Vaccaro be anything like his fellow alum, or is that where the comparisons start and stop..the fact they both went to UT??

[ABQcowboyJR]

Earl is a worlds better ball hawk than Vaccaro is. Vaccaro can cover and make some plays on the ball. Vaccaro is way more of a physical presence. All in all I think Earl is one of if not the best pure free safety in the NFL and Vaccaro is going to make one heck of a NFL safety.

[Shinywalrus]

Originally Posted by ABQcowboyJR

Earl is a worlds better ball hawk than Vaccaro is. Vaccaro can cover and make some plays on the ball. Vaccaro is way more of a physical presence. All in all I think Earl is one of if not the best pure free safety in the NFL and Vaccaro is going to make one heck of a NFL safety.

Whoa, let's slow our rolls here. Earl is probably the most overrated defensive back in football right now, and there is little to no evidence of him being a ballhawk in any sense of the word. He's young with a lot of potential, but if Ed Reed's torch has been passed to anyone, it's been passed to Jairus Byrd.

You're right in saying that Vaccaro is a more physical presence, and he is a bit of a tweener. I think we'd find ourselves with four strong safeties on the roster if we drafted him.

[TheCount]

Originally Posted by Shinywalrus

Whoa, let's slow our rolls here. Earl is probably the most overrated defensive back in football right now, and there is little to no evidence of him being a ballhawk in any sense of the word. He's young with a lot of potential, but if Ed Reed's torch has been passed to anyone, it's been passed to Jairus Byrd.

You're right in saying that Vaccaro is a more physical presence, and he is a bit of a tweener. I think we'd find ourselves with four strong safeties on the roster if we drafted him.

What does that even mean. Who is overrating Earl Thomas?

In my opinion, he's the key to the entire Seahawks secondary. You don't get away with a bunch of 6'3 corners and a 230lb safety unless someone is back there covering a lot of ground and taking the deep stuff away. Just ask Roy Williams after Woody retired.

That being said, I don't by that the torch has passed from Reed to Thomas.

[Shinywalrus]

Originally Posted by TheCount

What does that even mean. Who is overrating Earl Thomas?

I'm kind of going off ABQ's comment that "All in all I think Earl is one of if not the best pure free safety in the NFL" as well as the All-Pro safety votes that gave 28 for Earl Thomas, 8 more than any other safety. It's a widely held view that he is already an excellent safety and there's little evidence of it.

I do think he has more upside than Vaccaro, and I think he's a decent safety, but he's not nearly as effective as a center fielder or ballhawk as we seem to want to make him.