Chiefs draft: Secondary preview
By Ben Almquist
Safeties
This year’s safety class leaves a good bit to be desired. There aren’t a lot of players in this group that are considered to be top prospects. But that shouldn’t really affect the Chiefs needs. While Kansas City is pretty much locked in with their primary starters, the third safety is currently a glaring hole on the roster. For most teams, that’s not a big deal, but the Chiefs used a three safety look on over 40% of their snaps this past year. That makes the position very important to the defense. That means the Chiefs could (and maybe even should) be looking to hit the spot early if the right player is available.
Vonn Bell – Ohio State
Scout’s View: An all-around safety who likely fits best on a team that splits their safeties in the back half. There are exposures of quality play as a deep safety and in the box over top of a slot receiver. Steady is the best way to describe Bell’s game. ~ Josh Norris (Rotoworld)
Top Comparison: Kurt Coleman – Carolina Panthers ~ Lance Zierlein (NFL.com)
My Take: I don’t know that anyone hurt himself as much as Bell did at the Combine. Bell told reporters that he got dressed down pretty badly by several of the coaches for his effort. He even went so far as to admit he was being lazy in drills. That’s more than enough for me to cool on him. If a guy doesn’t take his job interview seriously, you can’t expect him to take the job seriously. Might as well have shown up in jeans and flip flops. Let someone else make that mistake.
On top of that, he’s not a particularly good fit for the Chiefs as he is a bit of a liability when playing close to the line. He’s got decent mid to deep coverage skills, but that’s already covered with Ron Parker and the corners. This is a hard pass for me, and I don’t even feel there’s much of a reason to get into his tape.
Next: Time to cash in?