Randall & Rollins; or Rollins & Randall ?

[HarveyWallbangers]

I'm much higher on Rollins, who is the antithesis of Randall. While Randall would rather stand back and watch others make the tackle, Rollins is a tough and sure tackler - so taking both of them back to back is a bit of head scratcher.

Randall led his team with 106 tackles--which was 6th in the Pac 12 and 2nd among DBs. I would not describe his play as somebody who stands back and watches others tackle (i.e. unwilling to tackle). He isn't a good tackler for a safety. That's not surprising for his size. I'm guessing he'll be adequate. He's at least willing--unlike Sam Shields in the early part of his career and Tramon Williams at times in his career. His size and over-aggressiveness gets him in trouble at times. Rollins has better ball skills and he's a sure tackler, but he also has below average speed and leaping ability. As an overall athlete, Rollins is similar to Micah Hyde and Patrick Lee. As an overall athlete, Randall is similar to Casey Hayward (5'11" 196, 4.46, 4.07, 6.83, 38", 120" for Randall vs. 5'11" 192, 4.47, 3.90, 6.76, 34", 119" for Hayward).

There is a lot of projection to his game though. There are things to like about him, but it reminds me a bit of Carl Bradford coming out of ASU. What he was good at while playing at ASU won't necessarily translate to his new position in the NFL. There's not a lot of film showing the traits he'll need at his new position in the NFL. With Bradford that only cost a 4th round pick. With Randall it costs a 1st round pick. I wouldn't be surprised if Rollins is better. Of course, we'll see what Thompson gets out of this draft in total. That usually ends up being better than his results in the first round only.