Kansas City Chiefs defensive players linebacker Tamba Hali and safety Eric Berry made their appearances on the NFL’s Top 100 list Wednesday night. Berry checked in at number 50 while Hali was ranked 43rd.
Berry turned in potentially the best season of his young career in 2013 by recording 68 tackles, four sacks, three interceptions, and five passes defended. Pro Football Focus says he had a 68.5 quarterback rating against when targeted, and ranked third amongst all safeties in his overall PFF grade – higher than Earl Thomas and Jarius Byrd. His coverage grade – the thing Berry is knocked for the most – ranked third amongst all safeties, behind only Devin McCourty and Troy Polamalu.
The Pewter Plank
“Eric Berry shows a lot of greatness.” – Keenan Allen
“In time, he could go down as one of the greatest safeties of all-time.” – Jeremy Maclin.
You can watch Berry’s video here.
Hali shows up on the list at number 43, which isn’t too shabby. This means the Chiefs’ duo of pass rusher rank 43rd and 57th on the NFL’s Top 100 list. Throw in Dee Ford and the Chiefs edge rush is going to be something special.
2013 was something of a rejuvenation for Hali, who took a small step back in 2012 where he had just a +3 PFF grade. He rebounded to post a 26.8 overall grade in 2013, which included a significant improvement to his run defense.
It should be noted Hali only had two sacks after week eight of the season, so he should benefit greatly from having a healthy Houston and Ford to back him up.
“If you want to take somebody in the back ally with you to have a street fight, Tamba Hali would be my first choice.” – Derrick Johnson
“He knows how to use his hands really well. It’s almost like a Mr. Miyagi double-hand-swipe.” – Khalif Barnes
You can watch Hali’s video here.
Kansas City now has four players on the Top 100 list: Hali, Berry, Justin Houston Is The 57th Best Player In The NFL” href=”https://arrowheadaddict.com/2014/06/05/justin-houston-57th-best-player-nfl/” target=”_blank”>Houston, and Johnson. We can assume Jamaal Charles will be on the list at some point in the next few weeks. Will the Chiefs be able to place more than five players?