Ranking the North: The Vikings Young Safeties Carry Huge Potential

Jun 8, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings safety Lewis Cine (6) catches a ball during mandatory mini camp at TCO Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve made it. After multiple weeks of going through every position group in the NFC North, we’ve arrived at the final ranking: the safeties. Thanks for coming along on this journey across the North and make sure to come back for more content like this in the future. Now without further ado, let’s talk about some safeties.

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1. Green Bay Packers

Darnell Savage has been one of the best ball-hawking safeties throughout his NFL career. Over the course of his first three years in the league, Savage has recorded eight interceptions and has 26 pass defenses. Both statistics put him inside the top-10 among all safeties since 2019.

Alongside Savage, Adrian Amos has been almost equally as effective over the past three years. He has six interceptions and 25 pass defenses since leaving the Chicago Bears for Green Bay in 2019. The Packers have an elite duo, and they have some interesting depth below these two. Shawn Davis was a fifth-round pick by the Indianapolis Colts in 2021. He was released by the team and picked up by Green Bay. After spending that season on the practice squad, he might be the favorite to win the backup job after an impressive minicamp. Green Bay’s secondary holds the NFC North crown heading into 2022.

2. Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings biggest splash of the draft came on night one when they moved down 20 spots from No. 12 to No. 32 in a trade with the Detroit Lions. With that 32nd overall pick, Minnesota selected Georgia safety Lewis Cine.

This move created a very intriguing young duo at safety for Minnesota in Cam Bynum and Cine. During the two games that Harrison Smith missed during 2021, Bynum played quite well in his stead. Now, having a trio of starting caliber safeties, along with Andrew Booth, Cam Dantzler, Patrick Peterson, and Chandon Sullivan at CB should make it much harder for opponents to pass against the Vikings this year. This could end up being the NFC North’s best secondary by the end of the year.

3. Chicago Bears

After being named an All-Pro during his second year in the league, Eddie Jackson has been on a steady decline ever since. The sixth-year safety hasn’t made a Pro Bowl since 2019, and he missed three contests for the Bears in 2021 while recording the worst PFF grade of his career.

Rookie Jaquan Brisker is the likely starter alongside Jackson, but Dane Cruikshank shouldn’t be overlooked as a contributor for this defense. Especially if Brisker has some typical rookie growing pains and Jackson misses more time, Cruikshank will be forced to step onto the field for extended periods. He started four games for the Titans in 2021, so he’s certainly capable.

4. Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions have a ton of youth at corner in 2022, but safety is where their weathered veterans come into play. Tracy Walker returns to Detroit for a fifth season after recording 108 tackles in 2021. The Lions also brought in DeShon Elliott from the Baltimore Ravens who has started 22 games since 2020.

That’s not to say that Detroit is without youth at safety, though. The Lions selected Kerby Joseph in the third round of the 2022 draft with the 97th overall pick. The former Fighting Illini safety will bring a bit of physicality to the secondary, and it wouldn’t be too surprising if Detroit throws him in the starting lineup at some point this year.

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