A Chiefs fan’s guide to the NFL Draft: The Safeties
The NFL draft is a month away and the Chiefs have several positions that they need to address. Lets look at some safety prospects that would fit well in KC.
April is officially upon us and for die hard Kansas City Chiefs fans that means the month of the NFL draft is here. Yes, there are still several more weeks of armchair scouting and speculation to come, but the official countdown to one of my favorite events of the NFL year has begun.
This is the second in a series of posts to help you countdown the weeks to the draft by profiling a position each week where there is a clear need for the Chiefs. The prospects in these posts aren’t the top overall guys at the position. Instead, I’m looking at guys that I both really like as prospects and believe the Chiefs have a legit shot at being able to draft them. Each week I’ll give you a couple of early round guys, a couple of mid round options, and a late round flier I like too.
If you missed last week’s guide for the cornerbacks you can find it HERE.
This week we’re looking at the safety position.
Before I delve into the prospects themselves let me clarify two thoughts of mine that helped shape this list. First, of all the positions on the Kansas City roster, the spot with the biggest hole in the starting lineup may be the safety spot next to Eric Berry. With the departure of Ron Parker, that leaves Daniel Sorensen and Eric Murray to fill the second and third safety spots.
While I am actually really happy with those two as the third and fourth options on the roster, I just do NOT feel safe with either of them as the day one starter. Now, Murray (like Parker) is a converted cornerback who is still young and who I really liked coming out of college. MAYBE the Chiefs believe he is going to take a big step forward this year, but that is a BIG maybe. Simply put, the Chiefs really need someone to come in and assert themselves as the starter next to Berry.
Second, since I believe the Chiefs need someone to start next to Berry, the safeties on my list have the skill set to play Parker’s role in the defense. There are some great safeties in this draft that could be the eventual heir to Eric Berry, but that’s not what the Chiefs need right now. Therefore, a guy like West Virginia’s Kyzir White (who I love) isn’t on this list. He needs to play in the box and help stuff the run. The Chiefs need a guy to play on the back end. I know its tempting to say “we’ve been so bad against the run put Berry and a guy like Kyzir White next to each other and have the most physical safeties in the league!”.
The problem with that is the Chiefs like to play physical man coverage with their outside corners at the line of scrimmage. You can’t do that without some safety help over the top. Two physical in the box safeties and aggressive man coverage at the line would lead to a LOT of deep touchdown passes allowed. No, the Chiefs need a true back end free safety and that is what I set out to find when I put this list together.
Let’s start with the guy I think would be best, but is probably the least likely to still be on the board.