Mel Kiper Jr. thinks two-high safeties is killing the NFL:

“The NFL is being ruined by these two-high safeties.”

Jonathan Gannon haters of two years ago would have loved this take. Soft zone? Put it in the bagster! They’d agree that you have to walk ’em up higher or put one of them in the slot ala Malcolm Jenkins and leave Rodney McLeod back there as the hash safety.

Recent example:

There was a snap last Saturday where Pittsburgh was backed up on 2nd and 30 and West Virginia decided to play man with a single-high safety. Pitt threw a bomb into the corner for a touchdown and went on to win. It would have never happened if WVU just put two safeties back there, so you understand why the philosophy in the NFL and the collegiate level these days is to limit explosive plays. That was the advent of this shift. Limit big plays, keep everything in front, get home with four. It’s what the 2022 Birds did successfully, and it would have won them a Super Bowl if they had made 1-2 more plays in that Kansas City game. Ironically, the 2017 Eagles played more single safety and got torched by Tom Brady in Super Bowl 52, but found a way to win. Go figure.