Pittsburgh Steelers Film Room: Safety Budda Baker

The Pittsburgh Steelers have held many visits since the season ended, whether that be at the combine, privately, or at another pre-draft event. In this new series, I will break down the pros and cons of some of those visitors as we inch toward draft day.

With Mike Mitchell aging and inching closer to the end of his contract, Pittsburgh will need to address the safety position for the future. In an abundantly defensively talented draft, now is the perfect time to look.

In this fourth installment of the Film Room series, I am going to breakdown Washington safety Budda Baker. He is a guy who I don’t see talked about as much as other guys in this draft.

That is about to change as I give you the run down of this potential Steelers pick.

Profile

Name: Budda Baker

School: Washington

Position: Safety

Height: 5 ft. 10 in.    Weight: 195 pounds

The Positive Traits

Baker is a physical safety with a lot of love for the game of football. He takes the game seriously and devotes himself to his craft.

He has great explosion for a guy his size. Baker is always active in the play waiting for his moment to close on the ball.

His ball skills are on par with what I expect out of a safety that is good in coverage. He tallied five interceptions and 18 pass breakups while starting all three years at Washington.

The ability to start the moment he became a Husky is a tribute to his leadership and passion for the game. His football character alone is enough to make coaches and execs fall in love with him.

Baker is always flying around the field ready to make his next play and that is what I like most about him. He always looks to be involved and with his fluid movements in coverage and in general, he is able to get himself in on most plays.

Baker plays with more physicality than you would expect from a sub-200 pound safety. He is not afraid of contact and will engage blockers and ball carriers/receivers all with the same intensity.