The Carolina Panthers need to add talent at the safety position in this year’s draft. The current projected pairing of Da’Norris Searcy and Mike Adams would be one of the oldest and slowest in the league. Neither have particularly great range, which could be a big problem if both are on the field at the same time.

So, what type of safety do the Panthers need? A strong safety, or a free safety? The answer is a bit complicated, since Ron Rivera’s defenses have historically been very diverse with the types of coverages they employ in the secondary. Under Rivera, the Panthers have run a zone-based defense that occasionally features man-to-man coverage, especially when they blitz. When the Panthers play zone, they utilize both single high coverage shells like Cover 3, and two-deep coverage shells like Cover 4 (also known as ‘Quarters’) and to a lesser extent, Cover 2.

Traditionally we’ve been told the free safety is the smaller and faster safety who plays far off the line of scrimmage and has good ball skills. Meanwhile, the strong safety is bigger, plays closer to the line of scrimmage and doesn’t have to be as good in coverage. In a static defense that employs a single base coverage shell like Cover 3 for the entire game (think of the Seattle Seahawks), these descriptions certainly apply, since the free safety will almost always be single high and the strong safety will almost always be in the box. However, these specific descriptions don’t necessarily apply to the Panthers’ defense, because both safeties need to have versatile skill-sets due to the various coverages used on defense. Take a look:

On the first play of the Panthers playoff game against the New Orleans Saints, the Panthers are playing Cover 4, a two-deep coverage shell against a 3x2 empty backfield look. As expected, free safety Kurt Coleman is shaded towards the backside of the 3x2 formation, while Mike Adams is lined up on the strong side. Both have equally important coverage responsibilities on this play as deep-half defenders, who might also have to play man coverage against the inside receivers if they get vertical.

Let’s take a look at the next play:

The Panthers are now in man-to-man coverage, and look at the single-high safety now – it’s “strong safety” Mike Adams, while Kurt Coleman, the “free safety” is now in the box, almost like a fourth linebacker.

The Panthers also like to disguise coverages. On this play, notice how Mike Adams, the “strong safety” is once again single high, while Kurt Coleman is in the box.

Pre-snap, it appears like the Panthers are playing Cover 1 or Cover 3; however, just before the snap, notice how Coleman rotates to his true responsibility as a deep-half defender, while the Panthers blitz up front.

The underneath defenders all play man, so this indicates they were actually playing Cover 2 man disguised as Cover 3.

Here’s a play where the offense’s motion can dictate the coverage being played in the secondary:

The Panthers appear to be playing a two deep zone; however, notice when Saints wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. motions from the strong side of the 3x1 formation to the weak side, Kurt Coleman drops down to line up over Ginn, while Mike Adams rotates up to play as the single high safety.

Safety rotations are a really interesting topic, and this video is a great resource for those who want to learn more.

Now let’s get back to the original question of whether the Panthers need a strong safety or free safety. The examples above show how interchangeable the “strong” and “free” safeties need to be in Ron Rivera’s defense, so it’s almost pointless to designate a particular safety as “strong” or “free”, since both will end up with almost equal responsibilities in coverage. I guess the answer is the Panthers need a safety that can cover. There are no perfect safety prospects in this year’s draft, so they should find one that is comfortable playing off in coverage, and hope the overall scheme and surrounding talent can mask any deficiencies they might have.

All images and GIFs courtesy of NFL.com

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