Alabama defensive back Ha Ha Clinton-Dix stops Virginia Tech running back Trey Edmunds in a game last August. Clinton-Dix's is a top prospect in the NFL draft. Credit: Associated Press

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Green Bay – Of the top 10 safeties in the National Football League draft, the two players widely regarded as the best also are the two slowest.

That can only mean trouble for teams looking to fill the safety position and hoping to get value from the selection at the same time.

The question is, do Alabama's Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Louisville's Calvin Pryor have so many other things going for them that they deserve to be taken in the first round?

Let's emphasize deserve. With almost half the teams from choice No. 10 on down in need of a safety, there's an excellent chance that both Clinton-Dix and Pryor will be first-round choices.

Ever the realist, one personnel director for a safety-needy team with a pick in the last half of the first round said, "You got to take somebody."

True, but when supply fails to meet demand is when, historically speaking, bad mistakes are made on draft day.

"As far as the elite safety, it's down," said Don Gregory, director of college scouting for the Carolina Panthers. "There's solid ones but there's not an elite guy."

Clinton-Dix could be categorized as a prototypical free safety, whereas Pryor exemplifies the head-hunting, reckless strong safety.

"I thought Clinton-Dix showed a little more lateral cover ability than Pryor," said Phil Savage, executive director of the Senior Bowl. "Pryor showed more thump, was more physical, was more engaged in the run game. Probably not quite the range or cover ability."

As passing continues taking over the NFL game, the ability to match up both in man-to-man and zone coverage has become the No. 1 asset teams seek in a safety.

Obviously, it's difficult for a safety to cover if he doesn't run well. Some scouts have said exactly that about Clinton-Dix, who ran 40 yards in 4.59 seconds at the combine and surprisingly turned down an opportunity to try again at pro day, and Pryor, who clocked 4.62.

"I just think Clinton-Dix is a good, solid player," said an AFC personnel man. "He's not the fastest guy in the world and he's not the best athlete.

"Pryor is a tough. He'll hit you. He has some ball skills. But he's not a great athlete and doesn't have great speed."

Twenty-four safeties have been drafted in the first round since 1998. Clinton-Dix ran a faster 40 than just two of them, Kenny Vaccaro (4.61) from last year and Donovin Darius (4.60) from 1998, while Pryor is slower than all 24.

Vertical jump is as good an indicator of athletic ability as any test. Seventeen of the last 18 first-round safeties had a better leap than Clinton-Dix's 33 inches, and Pryor's 34½-inch effort surpassed three and tied another.

Neither fared well on the 50-question Wonderlic intelligence test, either, and safety is a position where teams prefer scores well into the 20s. Pryor posted an even 20, five better than Clinton-Dix could muster.

"If you need it (safety) and he starts for you, great," an NFC personnel man said. "But I would not take either of those guys in the first round. I hope they go in the first. I think you'd be overdrafting them."

Of the seven safeties taken in the first round of the past four drafts, four were underclassmen as are Clinton-Dix and Pryor. One of them, Seattle's Earl Thomas, quickly became a great player, and San Francisco's Eric Reid is coming off an exceptional rookie season.

Thomas (5-10½, 205, 4.45), the 14th pick in 2010, has outperformed Kansas City's Eric Berry (5-11½, 211, 4.44), the fifth choice that same year.

Reid (6-1½, 210, 4.51) is the exact same size as Clinton-Dix but, besides being a step faster, was a smarter (Wonderlic of 29) and far more explosive athlete (vertical jump of 40½).

"Unless safeties are Earl Thomas I ain't taking them in the first," said one personnel man. "You can find 'em later in the second, third and fourth."

Another personnel director guessed that eight to 10 effective starting safeties would come from this draft. He added, "There might be just as many that go in the seventh round or free agent as in the top rounds. There's some guys down there that can play."

The Journal Sentinel polled 19 personnel people with national responsibilities and asked them to name their five best safeties and their five best cornerbacks. A first-place vote was worth five points, a second-place was worth four and so on.

In the two-man race at safety, Clinton-Dix garnered 13 first-place votes compared with Pryor's three and edged him in points, 85-72.

Following, in order, were Jimmie Ward, 45 (one first); Deone Bucannon, 39 (one first); Terrence Brooks, 23; Lamarcus Joyner, 11 (one first); Maurice Alexander, four; Dez Southward, three; and Nat Berhe, Jonathan Dowling and Craig Loston, one.

At cornerback, the top five players controlled an astronomical 98.3% of the votes.

"There's corners I would take in the first round but that corner group drops off quick," one scout said. "It's a crappy year at corner."

Justin Gilbert led with 12 first-place votes and 83 points. He was followed by Darqueze Dennard, 59 (two firsts); Kyle Fuller, 54 (one first); Bradley Roby, 49 (three firsts); Jason Verrett, 35 (one first); Aaron Colvin, two; and Phillip Gaines, Lamarcus Joyner and Marcus Roberson, one.

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UNSUNG HERO

Jemea Thomas, S, Georgia Tech: Two-year starter played all over the Yellow Jackets' secondary. Intercepted nine passes and delivered a ton of stinging hits. Scouts fret about his size (5-9, 191), but coaches will love his spirit and toughness.

SCOUTS' NIGHTMARE

Keith McGill, CB, Utah: Every team in the league desires tall corners, and McGill (6-3, 212) is ideal. Former junior-college player has a bad shoulder and, even more concerning, a flood of character red flags. It will be interesting to see which team looks the other way.

PACKERS' PICK TO REMEMBER

Jim Heacock, S, Muskingum (Ohio): Drafted in the 16th round in 1970. Released, never played in NFL. Coached two years in high school (second season under Don Nehlen) and then for 39 years in college. Head coach at Illinois State (37-49-2) from 1988-'95. Was an assistant at Muskingum, Bowling Green, Washington and, finally, Ohio State, where he retired in late 2012 after eight seasons as Buckeyes' defensive coordinator.

QUOTE TO NOTE

NFL personnel man: "Safeties are a pain in the (expletive). A lot of times you have to watch a lot of tape. They line up at 10 (yards), backpedal two, step forward and the play is made and then they come into the screen. You keep waiting for that time he has to cover across the field. You have to wait forever. I love the O-line and D-line because every play's a play."