I was surprised for the same reason as anyone else -- I knew Damarious Randall as a safety, and Green Bay has two starting safeties (and a CB/S hybrid in Hyde) so, what the eff, Teddy?
But that dissipated quickly the more I got to learn about Damarious Randall the player. My thoughts, or a few things being left out or underemphasized ...
Preoccupation with position: There's a problem right away when, because of Randall's position at ASU, he's really only being compared to other safeties in this draft. He played a quarter of his snaps at slot corner, an area where Green Bay has an immediate need if Casey Hayward slides outside (a likely scenario). Green Bay plays a ton of sub-package defense, with five and six DBs on the field at a given time. Randall could end up playing inside corner on either side of the line, and -- CRAZY! -- gives the Packers another matchup-based chess piece to move because of his centerfield ranging ability. Some say he's not a great tackler, but he still amassed 106 last season and ASU coaches have said he played FS because of that position's importance to running the defense. As AADP alluded to in an earlier post, the Sun Devils played a ton of zero blitz defense where Randall played man-to-man with no help over the top. Corner cover skills, corner speed -- heck, even a corner's body type. Projecting as a slot corner Day 1 in the NFL won't be as much of a "transition" as many think.
New breed of defensive back: NFL offenses throw the ball 62 percent of the time. Where'd that number come from? I heard it on TV, or the internet, or something. Okay, so I can't verify the veracity of that claim, but it sounds about right so let's assume it is. You need guys who can cover -- guys who are versatile. Green Bay's defensive backfield could be one of the best in that department with the addition of Randall. Is he a corner? Is he a safety? He's a 4.46 speed, incredibly quick change-of-direction tweener that should be able to be both. Most importantly, the teams that coveted him -- as mentioned Philly was tied to him -- did so because of his coverage ability. The tendency to see "safety" and think of an in-the-box thumper is outdated. Defenses constantly face three-and-four WR sets, multiple TE sets, and some combination of both. Anymore, you simply need football players who can matchup more than you do fitting rigid definitions of corner and safety.
William Henderson didn't have to run people over. His preferred method was levitation.
"I'm a reasonable man, get off my case."