Minnesota Vikings: Five potential free agent safety targets
By Dan Zinski
McLeod may be undersized at 5-10 but what he lacks in stature he makes up for in attitude. The former UDFA out of Virginia has a reputation as one of the hardest hitters in the NFL. If you don’t believe me, just ask Emmanuel Sanders (see above clip).
McLeod isn’t just a wrecking-ball, he also has skills in coverage. Pro Football Focus ranked him 9th among all safeties in coverage in 2015 and 4th in tackling. Take the reckless abandon of Andrew Sendejo and add good tackling technique and some cover ability, and you have Rodney McLeod.
The only problem with McLeod is that he’s been playing for the Rams and has likely learned some bad habits that Mike Zimmer would have to coach out of him. Zimmer doesn’t believe in the Gregg Williams cheap-shot philosophy.
At 25 and coming off his best season, McLeod is sure to be a sought-after free agent. The Rams have multiple decisions to make in their secondary and may not be able to pay McLeod what he is worth.