Here we go again: Reed or Polamalu?

By James Walker
Oh boy! It's that time again.



A debate that has been raging for years in the AFC North blog will finally be settled once and for all with ESPN.com's positional Power Rankings. Next week we will rank the NFL's best safeties, and it will surely be a two-horse race at the top between Ed Reed of the Baltimore Ravens and Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But today we want to hear from you on the infamous "Troy Reed" debate. Using our SportsNation poll, who do you believe is the NFL's best safety?

Reed led the league with eight interceptions in 2010 and made his seventh Pro Bowl. What is amazing is Reed accomplished the feat in just 10 games.

Polamalu is the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He recorded 63 tackles and seven interceptions, which included several clutch plays to close out games.

Both players are tremendous and potential Hall of Famers. So cast your vote on the best safety and share your comments below. We will have ESPN.com's full rankings next week.



(Cast Your Vote:) http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/26872/here-we-go-again-reed-or-polamalu




C'mon, guys! Don't let that dirty Ratbird win this poll! Troy has the lead right now 54% to 43%. :gosteelers:

its close but the edge has to go to troy. reed is great but does not do the stuff troy does.i dont remember seeing a lot of sacks by reed or tackles in the back field or game saving plays. troys are countless

Reed is one-dimensional. A ball hawk and not much more.

Players like Reed come around from time to time. We've never seen anyone like Troy, and it could be a long time before we ever do again.

By James Walker

ESPN.com's NFL writers rank the top 10 safeties in the league today. Next week: Top 10 owners.

When it comes to rating NFL safeties, there's Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed, followed by a huge gap for everyone else.

As expected, the star safeties for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens dominated ESPN.com's positional Power Rankings this week. No other safety received a vote higher than third place.

But what is surprising is that Polamalu -- the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year -- became the first player in this year's series to sweep all eight first-place votes. Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots did the same among head coaches.

(Read More:) http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/27282/power-rankings-top-10-nfl-safeties


The ESPN writers rankings:

Ranking the Safeties
1. Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh Steelers
2. Ed Reed, Baltimore Ravens
3. Nick Collins, Green Bay Packers
4. Adrian Wilson, Arizona Cardinals
5. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs
6. Michael Griffin, Tennessee Titans
7. Donte Whitner, Buffalo Bills
8. B. Meriweather, New England Patriots
9. Antrel Rolle, New York Giants
10. LaRon Landry, Washington Redskins
10. Antoine Bethea, Indianapolis Colts

Troy all day.