Alabama safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix reportedly met with the Eagles
According to Aaron Wilson of The National Football Post, Alabama safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix met with the Eagles.
According to Aaron Wilson of The National Football Post, Alabama safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix met with the Eagles. Clinton-Dix and Louisville safety Calvin Pryor are widely regarded as the top two safety prospects in this year's draft, with most favoring Clinton-Dix.
This offseason, the Eagles signed Malcolm Jenkins and retained Nate Allen in free agency. They also have Earl Wolff waiting in the wings, and the rest of their depth consists of special teams standout Chris Maragos and 2nd year player Keelan Johnson. The Eagles appear better off at safety than they were a year ago, but could still certainly stand to continue to upgrade the position.
Clinton-Dix is a rangy safety with good cover skills and ball skills. He had 5 INTs in Alabama's 2012 National Championship run. Here's one of those picks from the 2012 National Championship Game against Notre Dame, in which Clinton-Dix does a great job of grabbing a deflected pass and keeping a foot in bounds.
Clinton-Dix is also a sure tackler, although not the same kind of hitter as guys like Pryor, Florida State's Lamarcus Joyner, or Washington State's Deone Bucannon. What's impressive about Clinton-Dix is the speed with which he attacks ball carriers, as opposed to the hits he delivers. Here's an example of that. Watch as Clinton-Dix diagnoses the play and comes up from his deep safety spot to tackle the runner shy of the first down on 4th down. This is really well done.
Poor safety play around the NFL the last few years has not just been limited to the back end of the field in Philadelphia. It has become an epidemic league-wide. Because of that, it is very unlikely that Clinton-Dix will fall to the Eagles at 22, as good safeties have become a commodity. The Eagles, with only 6 picks, are unlikely to trade up for a guy like Clinton-Dix, as he is not what you would consider a special, "must have" player. Still, it is interesting that the Eagles are doing their due diligence on him.
The only other safety who is known to have visited the NovaCare Complex is Deone Bucannon of Washington State.
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