‘Demon in the Box’ — Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu Fit Together So Well That Brian Dawkins Has to Go

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'Demon in the Box' -- Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu Fit Together So Well That Brian Dawkins Has to Go

Ian Cummings would cut Brian Dawkins, and he’d tell you Dawkins is the most complete player of the three. That’s the tension in the latest Football Debate Club. One’s gotta go: Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu or Dawkins.

Ian Cummings Keeps Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu Over Brian Dawkins​

“These are the three best safeties arguably of the modern NFL era past 2000,” Cummings said, with a nod to Emlen Tunnell and Ronnie Lott before getting to work. “I’m keeping Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu on my roster.”

The cut isn’t a knock. “Brian Dawkins, I think, of the group, is the most versatile,” Cummings said, before rattling off the trio’s combined haul: “13 total first team All-Pros, 2 total Defensive Player of the Year awards, but I just think Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu fit together so well stylistically.”

The public tally is actually 14 first-team All-Pro selections, five apiece for Reed and Dawkins and four for Polamalu. The two Defensive Player of the Year awards check out, Reed in 2004 and Polamalu in 2010, which means Dawkins is the only member of the group without one. He’s also the only one without a Super Bowl ring. Neither fact is why he got cut.

Cummings has one other stated motive, and he isn’t hiding it. “Plus, I got to get that shampoo advertising money from Polamalu,” he said. “That’s a deal breaker.”

Then comes the actual argument. Reed’s case is the résumé of a player who broke the position’s ceiling. “You look at Ed Reed, 64 career interceptions, 139 career pass deflections, and still the all-time leader in interception return yardage,” Cummings said. That last one is the record that still stands, 1,590 yards, and it isn’t close to being touched. Reed also owns the two longest interception returns in NFL history, at 107 and 106 yards.

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Polamalu’s case is a different sport entirely. “A demon in the box, second level, intermediate level, a guy who can come downhill flying,” Cummings said. “We forget he had a 4.33 40-yard dash and a 43.5-inch vertical.” A knee injury kept Polamalu out of the combine, so those numbers came at USC’s pro day in 2003, where scouts reportedly had to remove ceiling panels to measure the jump. Pittsburgh traded up to No. 16 to get him.

The Real Argument Is Scheme Fit, Not Accolades​

Here’s where the debate stops being a beauty contest. Cummings isn’t ranking these three. He’s building a defense.

“With Ed Reed playing in single high, I can live in cover one and cover three and let Polamalu wreak havoc in the box,” he said.

That’s a coherent unit. One deep safety who erases the middle of the field and turns any errant throw into six points the other way, one rover who plays linebacker, blitzer and enforcer within 10 yards of the line. The two roles don’t overlap. Neither player has to compromise what makes him great.

Dawkins is the odd man out precisely because he could do all of it. Thirty-seven interceptions, 26 sacks, 36 forced fumbles, the most ever by a safety. He remains the only player in NFL history to record a sack, an interception, a fumble recovery and a touchdown catch in the same game, which he did against Houston on Sept. 29, 2002.

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On a roster where you need one guy to do everything, Dawkins is the first pick. On a roster where you already have the two specialists who define the extremes of the position, his versatility becomes redundancy.

That’s the uncomfortable lesson buried in Cummings’ pick. Being the best all-around player is a great way to get cut when the other two fit each other perfectly.

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