A Chiefs fan’s guide to the NFL Draft: The Safeties

DeShon Elliott – Texas – 6’1″ – 210 pounds

DeShon Elliott is a safety prospect that I think could be a really nice fit for the Chiefs next to Eric Berry but I’m not quite as sold on him in coverage as I am on Bates. That may sound strange considering Elliott led all safety prospects with six interceptions last season and added another seven pass defenses on top of that. Elliott is definitely an opportunistic play maker and with the departure of Marcus Peters the Chiefs could definitely use a guy like that in their secondary. However, I felt like Elliott was often in the right place at the right time. A lot of his big plays look like this.

Again, when a guy consistently finds a way to make plays and take the ball away from the other team that is incredibly valuable. I just trust plays like that one less than I trust the pure coverage skills I saw on Bates tape. That doesn’t mean that I think Elliott doesn’t have some nice coverage skills. Some people are REALLY high on him, I’m just a notch below those people. I wouldn’t trade up for him. I’d be good with him as K.C.’s second round pick. I would love it if he fell to the Chiefs in the third round.

I will say that one thing that he has over Bates is that he is a little more powerfully built and because of that he makes some plays like this one that Bates simply doesn’t.

https://twitter.com/FootbalICentral/status/966799806252371968

Overall I am a fan of Deshon Elliott’s game and think he would be a great option for the Chiefs if they chose to pair him with Eric Berry. I like that he’s a bit of a ball hawk and think he would be good for a few big splash plays that could really make a difference in a game every now and then.

Now let’s look at another good coverage option that should be available in the mid rounds.