Would Harrison Smith have been worth a Top 5 pick?

[Uncle Buck]

Knowing what you know now, if you could go back in time to when Harrison was drafted, would you give up a Top 5 pick for him?  The reason I ask is that there is another Notre Dame safety (Kyle Hamilton) who looks like he might be as good as Harry has been.  If you had a Top 5 pick and Hutchinson, Thibodeaux, and Evan Neal were all off the board, would you pull the trigger on a safety like Harrison Smith?

Edited December 16, 2021 by Uncle Buck

[vikingsrule]

He’s better than four of the five taken in the top 5 of the 2012 draft. A HOF player regardless of position is worth a top 5 pick. Is Smith worthy of those credentials? So much depends on what else is available. 

[PrplChilPill]

Knowing only about Smith, and nothing about the other players in the draft? Maybe. 

Gil Brandt had him going about where he did in his redraft......(2020).

He also didn't make the top 10 in CBS' redraft (2019).

So, maybe not!

Indeed, not 1 re-draft has him in the top 10......

Russel Wilson goes 1, right? No doubt there.

[Cearbhall]

When I answered the poll that I thought Smith was worth a top 5 pick, I didn't consider who else was in that particular draft. I suppose it is only fair though that I am drafting Smith there with the benefit of hindsight that the other players should get that same benefit. I did not give that same benefit to them.

Given that a current safety coming into the draft doesn't come with the benefit of hindsight, it would be very unlikely that I would take a safety in the top five.

[vikingsrule]

55 minutes ago, Cearbhall said:

When I answered the poll that I thought Smith was worth a top 5 pick, I didn't consider who else was in that particular draft. I suppose it is only fair though that I am drafting Smith there with the benefit of hindsight that the other players should get that same benefit. I did not give that same benefit to them.

Given that a current safety coming into the draft doesn't come with the benefit of hindsight, it would be very unlikely that I would take a safety in the top five.

Agreed. It’s not typically seen as a premium position. How many safeties have actually gone top 5 in the past 20 years. 

[SteelKing728]

Wilson, Luck and maybe even Cousins goes in top 5 or top 10. Then you got Tannehill, Chandler Jones, Stephon Gilmore.

Then you got DeCastro, Lavonte David, Bobby Wagner and Mike Daniels.

All that said, he goes #5 in the top 5.

[PrplChilPill]

52 minutes ago, SteelKing728 said:

Wilson, Luck and maybe even Cousins goes in top 5 or top 10. Then you got Tannehill, Chandler Jones, Stephon Gilmore.

Then you got DeCastro, Lavonte David, Bobby Wagner and Mike Daniels.

All that said, he goes #5 in the top 5.

Go read the redrafts.....there are a lot of corners.....I love Smith's play, but he's not top 5 talent in that class. He's a great, great player. 

[AP_allday2869]

I'm not sure how anyone can say how a HOF caliber player who is a main stay and staple of the same team for 10 years is not worth a top 5 pick. How many teams can say they drafted someone as good as Smith, who has been on their team for 10 years? it is rare. 

[SemperFeist]

If you’re asking whether or not I would draft Smith in the top 5 of a redraft of 2012? No, I would not. 

If you’re asking whether or not I’d draft a safety, who I believe has HOF potential, in the top 5 of a draft? Yes, I would. 

[JDBrocks]

The 2012 was an exceptionally deep draft, so I don't think he'd go top 5, but I think some of the names being thrown out (like Tannehill and Cousins) are not top 5 picks in that draft either. As good as they have been recently, you can't ignore the specific circumstances that allowed each of them to become who they are today. I think the same could be said of Russell Wilson, to be honest. Wilson as the #1 overall pick on that Colts team likely doesn't have the same career that he's had in Seattle. He was objectively a worse prospect than Andrew Luck.

I think Harrison Smith would go in the top 5 of most drafts, just not 2012. 

[wcblack34]

I think this question is an easier one if he had been a Steeler, Patriot or Cowboy. Harry deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. But if he gets in, it won’t be first ballot. Had he played on the three aforementioned teams, he’s a first ballot, Top 5 worthy guy without question. 

[swede700]

On 12/17/2021 at 8:02 PM, wcblack34 said:

I think this question is an easier one if he had been a Steeler, Patriot or Cowboy. Harry deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. But if he gets in, it won’t be first ballot. Had he played on the three aforementioned teams, he’s a first ballot, Top 5 worthy guy without question. 

Rather than the team, what will hold him back is his quiet nature.  He's never been a flamboyant or loud player like an Ed Reed or Troy Polamalu...he's kept to himself and is just workmanlike and it's not like the HOF has ever truly valued the safety position.  It took 14 years of votes before they even put Krause in.  I wouldn't be surprised to see Harry have to wait for the Veteran's Committee to put him in (if he ever gets in), just like they did for Donnie Shell, who is probably a comparable player to his nature.  

[vikingsrule]

12 hours ago, swede700 said:

Rather than the team, what will hold him back is his quiet nature.  He's never been a flamboyant or loud player like an Ed Reed or Troy Polamalu...he's kept to himself and is just workmanlike and it's not like the HOF has ever truly valued the safety position.  It took 14 years of votes before they even put Krause in.  I wouldn't be surprised to see Harry have to wait for the Veteran's Committee to put him in (if he ever gets in), just like they did for Donnie Shell, who is probably a comparable player to his nature.  

Never thought Polamalu was loud or flamboyant. He had the hair and commercials but don’t remember much else. 

[swede700]

23 hours ago, vikingsrule said:

Never thought Polamalu was loud or flamboyant. He had the hair and commercials but don’t remember much else. 

The hair was enough, along with the flying around the field with a reckless abandon.  That's what I talk about when I refer to flamboyance. While he's generally a quiet guy like Harrison personality-wise, he had far more flamboyance on the field than Harry does. 

[vikingsrule]

2 hours ago, swede700 said:

The hair was enough, along with the flying around the field with a reckless abandon.  That's what I talk about when I refer to flamboyance. While he's generally a quiet guy like Harrison personality-wise, he had far more flamboyance on the field than Harry does. 

Kind of see the two as similar honestly. Smith probably doesn’t fly around the field as much as Polamalu did, but that’s probably a Zimmer thing, especially the past couple of years not having Cbs or good pass rushers.