2019 NFL Draft: Projected First Round after NFL Combine

For my money, Delaware’s Nasir Adderley is the draft’s top safety prospect, with due respect to a number of talented players at the position. Mississippi State’s Johnathan Abram, Alabama’s Deionte Thompson, and Florida’s Chauncey Gardner-Johnson are all in the running for that coveted slot, and each is likely number one overall at the position on some team’s board.

If the Raiders are going to target a safety with their third and final selection of the first round, Adderley makes the most sense after Gruden got an up close and personal look at the Delaware product during the week at the Senior Bowl. Adderley played for the Gruden-coached North team, and impressed enough as a leader that he was named a captain. He picked off a pass during the game to cap off an excellent week for him.

Adderley has flown under-the-radar coming out of an FCS school, but he has all the tools to be a high impact safety in the NFL. The Senior Bowl was big for him as he showed an ability to match up in man-to-man coverage as well as sticking his nose into the box to defend the run, a couple of things he was rarely asked to do in college.

Adderley has good speed and excellent closing range, a couple of tools that could lead to him being a ballhawking safety in the NFL. He’s the most well rounded and polished player at the position in this year’s class, in my opinion, with a ceiling high enough to warrant a first round selection.

If everything plays out this way, I imagine the Raiders would be picking between Adderley and Georgia cornerback DeAndre Baker as they look to find an impact player in the secondary at the end of the first round.