NFL Draft 2019 Scouting Report: SAF Darnell Savage, Maryland

FS/SS grades can and will change as more information comes in from Pro Day workouts, Wonderlic test results leaked, etc. We will update info as it becomes available.

-- ‘Quick hit’ scouting is a quick publishing of shorthand notes I had from watching 2-4 games of activity on a prospect this week, and with me already knowing the measurables and where the prospect was drafted. Also, with me having done some brief tape study/work on them and having a computer scouting model grade on them pre-Draft. With the ‘quick hit’, I wanted to do an abridged re-look at certain prospects, post-draft, for any numbers of reasons. -- 

Why a re-look here? I had Savage graded as an ‘OK’ safety prospect, nothing super-special. NFL-worthy and an obvious free safety not a strong safety. I was somewhat surprised that he was the #21 pick overall in the 2019 NFL Draft – I mean, first off…he didn’t have top safety grades for us and secondly – why draft a safety that highly? Safeties are becoming lesser than running backs in the NFL economy. Why waste draft capital like this? 

Be that as it may…the Packers made a big statement drafting him #21. I didn’t see that coming, so I wanted to take a deeper look to see if I was missing anything. 

My shorthand notes watching tape, in order of how I jotted them down…

 -- Looking again at his career output. Nothing jumps out. A decent amount of INTs in his career. Just a 2nd-team all-Big Ten player in 2018.

 -- Really nice movement skills on the field. His 4.36 40-time is not joke. He glides effortlessly around the field.

 -- Was a free safety a mostly but I saw him all over the place…sometimes sneaking up into an OLB or ILB role for some plays. 

 -- Very good in coverage because he has terrific closing speed…free safety has to be his NFL position.

 -- Quick and willing in pursuit of ballcarriers. A willing tackler and a nice form tackler. He’s a bit wiry and doesn’t rock people, and I think 220+ pound RBs will send him flying, but he holds his own and his heart is into hitting people when he can.

 -- BONUS: Watching him in their 2018 game where they had Ohio State beat and then lost to them in OT. Savage played a very good game, a season high 9 tackles and a critical late-game PD in the end zone on a short TD shot. 

The bonus is…as I watched this game from Savage’s perspective, I was also reacquainted with Dwayne Haskins…and re-thought about how I do not understand people pushing him as a top QB prospect. He’s OK, but a lot of flaws…a LOT of them. 

 -- Savage is very good in man-to-man coverage, as well as zone. He could almost be a cornerback consideration if needed. 

 -- He has good hands. Some of his INTs (watching his highlight reel) were not easy grabs. 

 -- He’s a very solid free safety for the NFL. Not sure he’s a Pro Bowl talent or anyone will really remember him after a year, but he’s going to be a good piece of the NFL team puzzle. 

Darnell Savage, Through the Lens of Our SAF Scouting Algorithm:

 -- Most of Savage’s best statistical games were against the best teams on their 2018 schedule…Ohio State (season-high 9 tackles), Texas (6 tackles, 2 TFLs), Temple (7 tackles, 2 TFLs, 23 yd INT TD), and Michigan (6 tackles, 1 INT)

 -- Two of Savage’s three best tackle total games came against Ohio State (2018 and 2016). The most solo tackles in a game in his career was 9 solos vs. Ohio State 2016. 

 -- Measurables:

5’10.6”/198, 9.1” hands, 31.0” arms

4.36 40-time, 2.58 20-yard, 1.56 10-yard

4.14 shuttle, 7.03 three-cone

11 bench reps, 39.5” vertical, 10’6” broad jump 

The Historical SAF Prospects to Whom Darnell Savage Most Compares Within Our System:

I like the Tarvarius Moore comp…a shorter Moore…but then I have to wonder if that’s true – why did Green Bay invest so much draft capital in a ‘decent’/good free safety? Moore was #95 pick by SF last year.

*The ratings are based on a 1–10 rating scale, but a prospect can score over 10.0+ and less than 0.0.

OVERALL RATING -- We merge the data from physical measurables, skill times/counts from the NFL Combine/Pro Days, with college performance data available on pass coverage/tackles, etc. and grade it compared to our database history of all college SS/FS prospects, with a focus on which SS/FS prospects went on to be good-great-elite in the NFL. We found characteristics/data points that the successful NFL SS/FS's had in common in college, that most other SS/FS prospects could not match/achieve.

Scoring with a rating over a 7.0+ in our system is where we start to take a SS/FS prospect more seriously. Most of the future NFL-successful college SS/FS prospects scored 8.0+ in our system, and most of the NFL-superior FS/SSs pushed ratings more in the 9–10.0+ levels overall. Future NFL busts will sneak into the 8.0+ rating range from time to time.

TACKLE/STRENGTH METRIC -- A combination of physical measurables and college performance, graded historically for future NFL profiling. In the simplest of terms, this is an attempt to classify the SS/FS as one more likely to be involved in a heavy amount of tackles, forced fumbles, and physical hits to separate a WR from the ball. It also gives some insight into the "toughness" of a player, if it is possible to quantify that (this is our attempt to).

SPEED/COVERAGE METRIC -- A combination of several speed, agility, size measurements as well as college performance. A unique measuring system to look for SS/FS prospects that profile for superior coverage skills and abilities.

2019 NFL Draft Outlook:

*Drafted #21 by the Green Bay Packers*

NFL Outlook:   

Darnell Savage looks like a very solid, sound free safety…I just don’t think that’s worth as much as Green Bay invested in today’s NFL. But I don’t think he’ll bust either…so, it won’t hurt them.

For fantasy, Savage is likely a free safety with a lean toward coverage and that won’t help him generate big IDP stats. 

I feel a little better about Savage now, than I did prior to this study…but I’m not bowled over. He’s good/fine. 

5/28/2019