Safety Savior?

The Minnesota Vikings have been looking for a difference maker at safety for what seems like forever. Paul Krause is sitting in the Hall of Fame but he last played over thirty years ago. Joey Browner was a dominant force until injuries rudely shortened his career. That was twenty years ago. Orlando Thomas showed great potential in the mid-90s but injuries killed his career before it really got started. Very sad. Robert Griffith had some nice seasons as the '90s closed. Corey Chavous and Darren Sharper each had a couple of Pro Bowl worthy seasons as free agent additions. No one as dominant as Browner or as lasting as Krause for two whole decades. To be generous, the Vikings safety play at the back of the defense has been horrible for a few seasons now. Even Sharper was a disaster in his last season with the Vikings. He went on to bounties and a nice little career revival with the New Orleans Saints. His fall that last year with the Vikings was ugly. He said that it was the system but it was the same system that got him to the Pro Bowl. In reality, he took horrible angles and missed more tackles than one man should ever be allowed. Tyrell Johnson was supposed to be the answer when the Vikings drafted him in the second round in 2008. His terrific athletic abilities never translated into reliable football performance. He's in Miami now.

The Vikings traded into the bottom of the first round of this past NFL Draft to select Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith. I hope, believe, that Smith is that long sought savior at safety. There's just something about this kid. He's a leader, a student of the game. He just seems to love playing football. I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't but there are many that just want that check. Players that see that next big contract as the sole reason for stepping on the field. Harrison Smith strikes me as someone that would play for free. For the sheer joy of playing a game. Put simply, he's a football player. The Vikings may have also found the other starting safety later in the very same draft. He was also Smith's teammate at Notre Dame. Fifth rounder Robert Blanton played corner in college but it looks like he's already been moved to safety. He was known as playmaker at Notre Dame. The Vikings need a bunch of those.

After far too many years, the Vikings may have found a promising safety future in the same draft and from the same school.