Top 10 safeties in the 2021 NFL Draft

#9 2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Tyree Gillespie (Missouri)

6' 0", 205 pounds; SR

Tyree Gillespie

A former three-star recruit after barely seeing the field in his freshman year, Tyree Gillespie has been one of the best safeties in the SEC in the last three seasons.

He never received any all-conference recognition because he simply didn’t put up the stats to back up his play. Over that stretch, he recorded 100 solo tackles, two sacks and 12 pass break-ups. The only start he missed since mid-October of 2018 was due to a targeting penalty and he has excelled in the SEC since then.

Gillespie played a ton of single-high free safety for the Tigers (76.8 percent of snaps last season as a deep safety), where he was very dependable at coming upfield and bringing the ball-carrier to the ground, even running backs, who outweigh him by a significant margin. He takes great angles towards the sideline on any outside runs and uses it as that 12th defender.

Because of that, he ends up taking away a lot of big-play opportunities. When he has to rotate down due to motion, he won’t get caught out of position, because he gets to the right spot before the ball is snapped and can stay balanced. Gillespie is an outstanding open-field tackler overall, who wraps up and takes down ball-carriers to great effect.

He only missed 25 of his 171 career tackling attempts, despite having to bring down some of these great SEC backs, often in solo fashion, and you see him come into the screen late constantly, when you watch the tight camera angle on the All-22. He has also been blitzed all the way from a deep middle alignment and got to the quarterback in a hurry a few times.

As a deep middle free safety, Gillespie wasn’t only expected to make those high-difficulty tackles in space, but also limit what teams can do with going over the top in the passing game. He has no issues drifting from one hash to the other, nor do you see him stumble when executing speed-turns, if his hips are opened the other way, and he finds the target or attacks the ball himself.

When he is matched up with somebody downfield, Gillespie usually doesn’t panic, turning his head around and sticking a hand out, to knock the ball down. The versatile Mizzou safety can also man up against big-bodied tight-ends to great effect, the few times he was deployed that way. He held Florida’s Kyle Pitts in check pretty well for example.

However, he really showed out against Alabama last season, lighting up and separating Devonta Smith from the ball on a slant route, tracking down Jaylen Waddle on a jet sweep from deep middle alignment for minimal yardage and making some keep stops on Najee Harris, including one at the goal-line.

The elephant in the room here for any defensive back – Gillespie did not have a single interception in his collegiate career. I don’t remember the last time a safety with no picks was selected before day three and even then, I can’t come up with any notable name in recent years either. Gillespie needs to anticipate throws and actually attack routes more aggressively.

He is also susceptible to letting quarterbacks move him to some degree or force him to open up the other way, that guy wants to go with the ball. There are some limitations in terms of range for a true deep-middle safety and he doesn’t have the rapid change-of-direction to be a major asset in man-coverage against slot receivers. You saw that to some degree during Senior Bowl week, where he had a tough time staying phase with a few guys there.

Still, you are talking about a high post safety, who is impeccable with choosing the appropriate angles and limiting big plays on the ground, doesn’t allow receivers to get behind him and is an all-world tackler.

Gillespie surprised me with a 4.38 in the 40 at the Mizzou pro day, even though the other numbers across the board were all slightly below-average. He may not have been a playmaker in college, but there is something to be said about a safety playing the position safely. If you are looking for that type of piece at the back end of defenses, I think Gillespie deserves consideration to be picked late on day two.