Pro Football Journal
Monday, December 21, 2015
Who Is Top Safety Playing Linebacker?
LOOKING AHEAD
by John Turney
http://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com/2015/12/who-is-top-safety-playing-linebacker.html
The Cardinals version is Deone Bucannon. He plays inside linebacker, but is listed in the Cardinals depth chart as a “moneybacker”. It certainly is not one of the positions that Amos Alonzo Stagg invented or what perhaps Paul Brown re-invented.
The Rams counter to that is the “Weak” or “Will Safety” that Mark Barron plays. Though he is a base outside linebacker by where he lines up, he prefers not to be called a linebacker.
Aside from the obvious versatility, what is impressive is how many “splash” plays, as coaches sometimes call them this pair has amassed. Both will finish the season with over 100 total tackles, both have forced a pair of fumbles, but also, both have made a lot of tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Barron has 16 run/pass stuffs, run or pass plays that have resulted in a loss (which leads the NFL) and Bucannon has 10.5 which is currently eighth in the NFL. Additionally Barron has 10 QB hits/hurries and Bucannon has fo
It may be unlikely that either of these players will be named All-Pro or make the Pro Bowl but both are deserving of serious consideration. And for whatever it is worth, both players are listed as “strong safety” in their bios that appear on the various websites such as NFL.com, et al. Maybe next year moneybacker or will safety will be in the NFL lexicon. Well, maybe not.