Derwin James vs. Minkah Fitzpatrick is one of the great draft debates of 2018. It seems like this is a topic that everyone has an opinion on and everyone either seems to be Team Minkah or Team Derwin. Make no mistake, both are super talented players and worthy of going in the first round of the draft. But the ultimate questions today are:

1. Who’s the better player
2. Who’s a better fit for the Packers

Before we jump to a breakdown of Minkah vs. Derwin I quickly want to discuss the safety position and whether or not Green Bay should even consider taking a safety at pick 14. As we sit today, Green Bay has HaHa Clinton-Dix, Josh Jones, Kentrell Brice, Marwin Evans, and Jermaine Whitehead on the roster. While I actually like Brice, Whitehead, and Evans, no draft decisions are being made in the first round due to their presence on the team. Clinton-Dix is in the final year of his contract and Jones was up and down as a rookie (not to mention you could move Jones to more of a linebacker role if needed). You can certainly make an argument that Green Bay should be in the market for a safety.

But should they be in the market for a safety at pick 14? Green Bay let Morgan Burnett walk this offseason and he received a relatively pedestrian contract from the Steelers. Tyrann Mathieu received only $7 million in free agency and Kenny Vaccaro, Eric Reid, and Tre Boston are all currently free agents awaiting to be signed. To make things even more interesting, safeties are currently the lowest paid defensive position based on the average top-10 cap hits for 2018:

Average of the top-10 cap hits by position for 2018 (good barometer for positional value in draft):

QB: $25.5m
RB: $7.1m
WR: $12.9m
TE: $9.5m
OT: $13.3
IOL: $11.0m

IDL: $14.1m
EDGE: $16.0m
LB: $10.8m
CB: $13.7m
S: $10.2m

K: $4.1m
P: $2.9m

— Mike Renner (@PFF_Mike) April 17, 2018

You can easily come to the conclusion this offseason that the safety position is beginning to be devalued. The only way that I see a safety being worth a top 15 pick is if the player can play a true single-high role which completely changes the face of a defense (see the Seahawks and Earl Thomas). I think there’s a serious question that needs to be asked: Would you rather sign Boston/Reid/Vaccaro and have pick 14, or draft Minkah/Derwin at pick 14?

Green Bay could have had their choice of reasonably priced safeties this year and chose not to pursue them. If they wanted to get a top end corner or edge rusher it would have cost them in excess of $12 million per year, and probably more than that. I believe a strong argument can be made that when a team is selecting top 15 they should be drafting players at premium positions; and with Green Bay’s needs at cornerback and edge rusher, those two positions would seem to make a lot more sense.

But enough about draft philosophy; let’s talk about what Derwin James and Minkah Fitzpatrick bring to the table, who’s better, and how they would each help the Packers.

Derwin James

Derwin James is going to be a Pro Bowl safety in this league and will be a very good player for a very long time. I feel very confident about those statements. James is athletically gifted and his athleticism and potential are clearly evident when you put on any of his tape. I’ve seen Derwin do everything in college that you would possibly want to see on tape, including playing center field (although that's not ideally where you want him). Let’s take a look at what he can do:

Coverage

Seems like Derwin James is underrated all of the sudden(that’ll change post combine.)

put together some clips of him in coverage. In man, he’s better than most cbs. He erases guys.

Working through this class, I can’t find 10 better. Surprised I don’t see him higher in mocks pic.twitter.com/0QvTMMedAC

— KP (@KP_Show) February 23, 2018

Make sure you check out my video on Derwin James that will be released on @FieldGulls soon! Dude is going to be a stud in the NFL.https://t.co/sf9kvfDUwB pic.twitter.com/9W7NRvlBG2

— Samuel Gold (@SamuelRGold) March 22, 2018

Rush off the edge

Derwin James throwing a Florida OT really never gets old pic.twitter.com/ogSu50tqey

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) April 5, 2018

Bend/Blitz

One of Derwin James' more underrated traits is that he is actually a pretty good blitzer. He was used on third downs though the A- and B-gaps pretty effectively. #NFLDrafthttps://t.co/wC1CVMLbuU pic.twitter.com/3swpyCTmqA

— Samuel Gold (@SamuelRGold) March 22, 2018

Centerfield

Derwin James is a really impressive safety prospect. Hear about all the versatility and ability in the box, which I'll get too, but he's good in deeper coverages too. In MOF shaded to trips side. Post route from inside receiver, James reads it, breaks on it quickly, breaks it up pic.twitter.com/t9JuhgnLfp

— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) March 28, 2018

Here’s a play from earlier. Derwin James of FSU backs out to a deep center in what looks like Cover One. But pay attention to the horizontal distance he had to cover here. At least 70-80 feet (half the width of the field). That’s range. pic.twitter.com/yaWkcE90KO

— CK (@ckparrot) April 12, 2018

And here is another instance of Derwin James playing deep center, making a very big (and challenging) play where he had to cover a lot of ground from middle-out. He was a fantastic deep safety in 2016. Didn’t play there as much in 2017, but was good when he did. pic.twitter.com/Fej1pmSYgq

— CK (@ckparrot) April 12, 2018

Tackling/hitting

Florida State's next legendary DB: Derwin James. pic.twitter.com/qvo9F3thBv

— Ryan Stalder (@RyanStalder12) November 2, 2015

Leadership

For all of Derwin’s on-the-field traits, you often hear that his leadership and intangibles are what truly set him apart. This is a player that any team would love to have on their defense. He would immediately come in and challenge HaHa Clinton-Dix and Josh Jones to be the best versions of themselves. He would gel perfectly with guys like Mike Daniels and Tramon Williams. He could be the glue that really brings this defense together.

While I showed what Derwin can do above, there are also concerns about what he can truly bring to a defense. Derwin is probably best playing in the box, similar to Jones. I actually am also of the feeling that HaHa is better in the box as well. Where Derwin struggles is in the slot in man-to-man coverage and his coach Jimbo Fisher said it’s the number one thing that he needs to work on going forward.

My overall take on Derwin James is this: He’s a Pro-Bowl safety who is best in the box and may not be the ideal fit due to Clinton-Dix and Josh Jones already being on the roster. He would be a leader on defense from day one and would be an intimidating presence wherever he’s lined up. He’s a phenomenal tackler, hitter, and blitzer.

My concern is that this is a passing league and he may not have the coverage skills to warrant a top 15 pick. His ability to explode to the football and high-point the ball give him a chance in center field and Derwin and HaHa would complement each other well. While Derwin probably wouldn’t be my first choice at pick 14, should Green Bay turn in the card with his name on it there would be a lot to love about his fit on the team going forward.

Minkah Fitzpatrick

In a way it’s funny that we compare Minkah and Derwin. While both ultimately will end up playing safety in the NFL, both are completely different breeds of safety. While Derwin is the physical imposing safety who is best playing in the box, Minkah is the slot/coverage safety who can play both as a slot cornerback and as a safety ala Tyrann Mathieu. He’s not that dissimilar to Micah Hyde during his Packers career, although Minkah is a more athletically gifted version of what Hyde was in Green Bay.

When I popped on the tape back to back between Minkah and Derwin I simply came away more impressed with Derwin as a playmaker. To me Derwin just jumped off the tape a bit more. What helps Minkah is that his game is a bit better suited for the modern NFL. As mentioned earlier, this is a passing league and coverage ability is huge. While it’s Derwin’s biggest question mark its arguably Minkah’s strongest trait. Minkah may actually be good enough to play some outside corner as is, and certainly could do it in a pinch.

I should also note that while I thought Derwin stood out a bit more on tape, Minkah absolutely has some breathtaking plays and is an incredible athlete in his own regards. You will see Minkah get over aggressive at times but his instincts are fantastic and he can do many of the same things Derwin can. He’s a great blitzer, he’s a sound tackler, and he has the ability to track and make plays on the football. He’s a very complete safety. You can take a look at some of his tape here:

Explosiveness

Watching Bama-A&M tape. Check out DB Minkah Fitzpatrick on this play...Crossing route. Close on the ball. pic.twitter.com/Kgk9n9gdeB

— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) February 6, 2018

Coverage

"Whether you're going to take Minkah Firzpatrick as that interior player or if you're going to kick him out as a corner—either way he's going to be a stud"

Watch our NFL draft preview show with @PFF: https://t.co/tDYtCsU76a pic.twitter.com/IbiRmbuHyM

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 17, 2018

Been waiting to see some reps of Kirk vs press man. Welp. Minkah devoured him pic.twitter.com/CY5P4aUgjg

— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) April 17, 2018

Blitzing

Alabama safety 29 Minkah Fitzpatrick winning a 1 on 1 pass rush against an SEC offensive tackle at 200lbs. Guy is crazy good at football. pic.twitter.com/nQTvORU8vM

— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) October 24, 2017

Effort

#Alabama DB Minkah Fitzpatrick...Love watching the top prospects make effort plays. Run to the ball. And always compete. That jumps on the film. pic.twitter.com/WJfXxOxzIG

— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) March 26, 2018

Minkah’s ability to come in from day one and add coverage ability at the safety position would be a welcome addition to the secondary. While Derwin James may have some redundancy with Clinton-Dix and Josh Jones, there is nobody on the roster who can do what Minkah does; he would give Mike Pettine a weapon that he doesn’t have in his arsenal and he would start in the nickel immediately.

Let’s take a look at who wins categorically:

• Centerfield/Deep Safety: Derwin
• Man coverage: Minkah
• Athleticism: Derwin
• Tackling/Hitting: Derwin
• Blitzing: Derwin
• Box Safety: Derwin
• Versatility: Tie
• Special Teams: Tie
• Effort: Minkah
• Leadership: Derwin
• Team Fit: Minkah

My final take is that Derwin is a better football player but Minkah is better suited for today’s NFL and is a better fit for what Green Bay currently needs on defense. Nobody should be upset if either of these players are the choice at pick 14. I expect Derwin to be selected prior to Minkah on Thursday and that ultimately could benefit the Packers.

Based on my breakdown of safeties at the beginning of the article I still believe that Green Bay is better off looking at edge rusher or cornerback in round one, but if either of these players are drafted by the Packers it would be a huge win for the team and for the defense. There’s very limited downside with a selection of either of these impressive safeties.

More on Derwin from Zach: https://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/packers-interest-in-fsu-safety-derwin-jame...

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