Best Player Available at #51: John Cyprien, S, FIU

Measurements:

Height- 6'0", Weight- 217 lbs, Arms- 31 3/4", Hands- 10 1/4"

Overview:

Jonathan Cyprien started 45 games in his FIU career, which is good for the most of any safety in the program history. He leaves FIU as the all-time leader in tackles. This small-school prospect finished the season as a late 2nd- early 3rd round prospect. However, his stock has since risen after the Senior Bowl where he wowed scouts with his dominating play. Cyprien is a as aggressive as they come, both in attacking the ball in the air and attacking ballcarriers on the ground. His massive hands (Largest among any safety prospect) allow him to secure tackles and should help with interceptions. You can see a breakdown of his high-level instincts and ball skills here. The knock on Cyprien is his lack of top-end speed. From the film (Good example below), it doesn't seem that speed is his issue but rather he has, at times, been beat by play-action fakes and overaggressive pursuit angles (But what safety hasn't?). Also, as a captain in his senior year, Cyprien is said to have the intangibles of an emotional, vocal leader on the field. The closest pro-comparison for Cyprien is Brian Dawkins and not just because of the tinted visor.

Related: UKRedskin's Film Breakdown of Cyprien

How He Fits with the Redskins:

In a safety class that is as deep as any other position, Jonathan Cyprien is a top prospect. Cyprien's strength lies in his versatility. In FIU he played all over the field, sometimes attacking the box and other times playing centerfield. For the Redskins, this is just what the doctor ordered. Gone are the days where the SS played "in-the-box" and the FS played centerfield. With the air attack dominating the league, safeties are just safeties. Schemes are now asking both safeties to cover their half of the back-end coverage or come up and cover the short-medium seams on their side. Looking at the film on how Haslett used Meriweather in his one healthy game versus the Eagles, it's clear that both he and Madieu were interchangeable in their roles from play to play. Currently having question marks around the entire safety corps, the Redskins could use the hard-hitting versatility Cyprien brings to the table. He would be a Day 1 starter at either position.

Bottom Line:

Almost every team wants a safety. What seemed like a possibility in February when Mike Mayock pegged Cyprien as a possibility for the Redskins at #51, now seems like a long-shot. The Redskins will need a team or two to pass on the safety position in the first round and another team to fall in love with Eric Reed. This is just to get him into Day 2. Cyprien is the only player I could justify the Redskins trading up 10 spots or so to go get. Odds are the stars won't align so favorably but if they do you can believe that Vinny Cerrato's 10-second record for quickest draft selection of Brian Orakpo may be in jeopardy.