USC draft prospect Su'a Cravens is an outside linebacker who often resembles a safety.
Kenny Vaccaro is a New Orleans Saints safety who sometimes resembles a linebacker.
The Saints apparently feel like the two players kinda resemble each other -- as Cravens pointed out on Twitter after a pre-draft visit on Tuesday.
Saints comparison on my visit . pic.twitter.com/3F2ncrEKRI
— Su'a Cravens (@Sua_Cravens) April 5, 2016
Cravens, who is 6-foot-1, 226 pounds, is projected as a second- or third-round pick depending on whether teams view him as a linebacker, a safety or a hybrid of the two.
Technically, I guess it doesn’t matter what they call him as long as they have a plan for him. But Cravens is the type of athletic outside linebacker that I’ve been suggesting the Saints need for years -- someone with pass-coverage ability and the speed to chase down runners in the open field.
There are a few of those types in this year’s draft class, including UCLA’s Myles Jack, who is expected to be long gone before the Saints pick at No. 12 in Round 1. Others include Notre Dame’s Jaylon Smith (who would have been a top-10 pick himself if not for a major knee injury in the Fighting Irish’s bowl game), Ohio State’s Darron Lee (another first-round option) and LSU’s Deion Jones (possibly a second-round option for the Saints).
As I wrote after Jones’ dazzling pro day last month, the trick for NFL teams is finding the right position for these smaller linebackers. They have been growing in popularity and usefulness since the pass-happy NFL operates out of sub packages about two-thirds of the time.
Judging by the Vaccaro comparisons, the Saints might have some creative ideas in store for “tweeners” like Cravens.
