"There are no great post safeties in the NFL anymore. The days of Ed Reed and Earl Thomas are gone. With every passing year, the league trends away from one great center fielder and replaces him with two-deep coverages, those versatile and amorphous blobs of disguise. The honorable days -- the days in which one dauntless defender stood alone, Jon Snow-style, and dared the offense to get past him -- are behind us."
"The post safety is not gone -- he has simply changed. He has evolved to fit his new environment. He hides in different cover than he once did, spinning at the snap and sneaking into the box. He preys on different throws than he once did, driving on crossers and abandoning the post. And in no player has this change been more readily captured than in Atlanta Falcons safety Jessie Bates III."
The traditional single deep center-field safety role has diminished as the NFL adopts two-deep coverages and more versatile defensive alignments. The post safety has evolved into a multi-purpose defender who hides in varied looks, moves into the box, and attacks different routes such as crossers instead of always guarding the post. Jessie Bates III exemplifies this evolution after moving from the Bengals to the Falcons, where he has been deployed across formations with expanded on-ball freedoms. Bates has produced exceptional turnover production, registering 17 combined interceptions and forced fumbles over the past two seasons, driven by an uncanny feel for the ball.
Read at ESPN.com
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