Based on what I've read about Dix thus far in camp and his reports coming in, I think he projects to be a solid safety at least. He would seem to be what you're looking for on the back end. Good ball skills, takes good angles, not fast but good football agility and speed, reliable tackler - a reliable last line of defense kind of guy who's a true safety in every sense. Hopefully his "tissue-paper-on-the-restaurant-seat-with-buddies" and "serenading-women-on-big-boats" habits don't get in his way.

Burnett has already shown he can be a solid player so while he may not be the complete answer I think he can/will avoid being a consistent problem if he's used right. I too would love to see Hyde and Richardson make him expendable because Dix appears to be the best deep safety and I think Hyde is the best in-the-box bilitz/fill-in-the-run-game/playmaker.

But that's not really the way this coaching staff rolls. Burnett's gonna be in there as long as he's healthy because he's the most experienced and does everything well enough (but nothing great) to allow them to declare and adjust coverages, disguise and rotate on the fly.

I also think Richardson has the tools to play and am looking forward to see how he develops this year. He also looks like he could bring a lot of flexibility as long as he can handle the mental demands back there.

Hyde's just a good football player who can do everything but run with the gazelles on the outside. So as long as he's able to read and react without having to match up with the big and fast receivers he should be able to contribute and make plays when fulfilling safety roles.

Not sure about any of the other guys like Banjo or the guy from Iowa. Maybe they make the team and can be special team demons but it'd be a big stretch to say they're going to be contributors to any conclusions about the safety position being a strength. If they're playing, it's probably a weakness again.