The Minnesota Vikings have two of the best safeties in the league in Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris. The big question about this unit as the season approaches is which young players will be backing them up? It will come down to four players battling for two spots on the team.
The players competing for these positions will be Josh Metellus, Brian Cole, Myles Dorn and Harrison Hand — if he moves from corner to safety for his NFL career. These players all bring a little something different to the table, and it will truly be a wide-open competition.
Anthony Harris once found himself in a similar situation as many of these young safeties battling for a spot on the Vikings’ roster. Is it possible one of these rookies can follow Harris’ lead and work their way from the bottom of the depth chart to one of the better safeties in the NFL?
Anthony Harris Recap
Before we get into who could be the next Harris, let’s just do a quick overview of his career. Harris was an undrafted rookie in 2015. He made the team due in part to his special teams prowess, and eventually saw some snaps on defense as a rookie and even started a couple of games. He hung around the following season and was active in all 16 games.
He continued to see spot duty until 2018 when he took hold of the starting job and racked up 46 tackles and three interceptions. The 6’1″, 200-pound Harris has developed into one of the better coverage safeties in the NFC, and he’s coming off his best season yet with 60 total tackles, 11 pass breakups and a very impressive six interceptions.
Harrison Hand
The Vikings drafted Hand in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. The college cornerback has been rumored to convert to safety in the NFL, and if that happens, he’ll be a very intriguing prospect. Hand is only 5’11” but has an extremely long wingspan at 76 3/8 inches. This makes up for his lack of height because he can use those long limbs to go up and swat down passes.
Like Harris, he’s a gifted pass defender. He played in the pass-happy American Conference and saw plenty of balls come his way. He learned how to high point a ball and where to position his body to get an advantage over the receiver. Hand is also a great tackler and not afraid to come up and support the run.
The biggest question about whether or not Hand can become the next Harris will have to ultimately do with where the Vikings decide to play him. If he is transitioned to safety, there’s a strong chance he becomes one of the backups and sees plenty of action in 2020. If he stays at cornerback, he’ll be buried on the depth chart, and will likely only be seen on special teams. If safety is his future, he could be on a very similar path to what Harris was on, assuming he develops.
Josh Metellus
Metellus was selected by the Vikings in the sixth round of April’s draft and comes in as a favorite to earn a backup safety job with the team. He’s an exciting player to watch, as he is extremely aggressive against the run and is a textbook tackler. He has a different build than Harris as he’s a little shorter but has a stouter frame.
Metellus really isn’t the type of player who will become the next Harris. While he could go a similar route from working his way from a special teamer to a starter, it is his style of play that is much different. Metellus isn’t a great pass defender. In college, that was an area where he really struggled, and it was seen as his biggest weakness entering the draft. He is even a candidate to play some linebacker in his NFL career, so he’s actually probably more similar to ex-Viking Jayron Kearse than Harris. Metellus will likely win one of the Vikings’ backup safety positions, but he is a much different type of player than Harris and won’t be his second coming.
brian cole ii
Minnesota doubled up late on safeties in the 2020 NFL Draft, and Cole was the second player they chose at that position. Cole has some impressive physical traits: He’s 6’2″ and 205 pounds, but he is extremely raw. Cole is a former college wide receiver who transitioned to safety at the JUCO level. Many would think that being a former receiver would make him decent in pass coverage, but that has not been the case. Cole often struggled to track the football and needs a lot of work on his coverage skills.
Cole’s route to becoming an eventual starter in the NFL will be a long and winding road, and that makes him similar to Harris. Cole has practice squad written all over him, and if he does make the team next season, he will likely be a special teamer and see very few reps on defense. Unless his ability in pass coverage improves exponentially in the coming season, his chances of being the next Harris are very slim.
myles dorn
Dorn is similar to Harris in a couple of ways. They were both undrafted, and players who are undrafted often come in with a chip on their shoulder, eager to prove teams wrong for passing on them. Harris certainly had that and almost willed his way onto the Vikings his rookie season. These two are also very similar in size, with Dorn being just a hair taller than Harris at 6’2″ and just a few pounds heavier. Both were also products of the ACC in college.
Dorn is very quick at diagnosing plays and then attacking the ball carrier. He also has proven to be effective in pass coverage and does well reading the quarterback to figure out where he’s going with the football. He sometimes bites too quickly on a play, though, and is too trusting of his read — this has led to him allowing some big plays down the field. This is a concern, as is his overall speed, and that’s why he’ll need plenty of reps before he sees any meaningful snaps on the Vikings’ defense.
Of all the players on this list, Dorn checks the most boxes when it comes to being the next Harris. He was undrafted, is similar in size, and is good in pass coverage. Like Harris, he’ll need time to develop, but all the traits are there for him to go down a very similar route and become the type of player that Harris is. If this actually comes to pass and Spielman once again hits on an undrafted safety, it’ll be a huge score for the Vikings, and Spielman will start to be known as some sort of safety whisperer.
