I know nobody likes Sorensen's cap number, but I think he's worth it -- he's starting-caliber. He picked off Brady and stopped a 4th and 1 in the AFCCG.
Armani Watts obviously is an injury concern but all safeties are injury concerns, and Watts showed well before he went down.
Jordan Lucas looks really solid.
I don't like Eric Murray so I don't care there, but we're pretty solid at safety, as much as we are any position on the defense. We don't need to spend $12m on Earl Thomas or burn a 1st or 2nd day pick on the position.
Remember the goal: the goal is to get the defense to be league-average while the offense destroys people.
Our safety position right now is league average.
Let's invest in the positions we are less than league average at: corner, passrusher, linebacker. Basically everywhere else on the defense except for safety. [Reply]
Originally Posted by UChieffyBugger:
Did you see his stats from last season? He was better than every single safety we had on the books so what's the problem? We need vets back there, not rookies. Oh and just because other teams don't fancy him doesn't mean we should follow suit. WE HAD THE 31ST RANKED DEFENSE LAST SEASON, and you think we're In a position to be choosey? HB and Boston would take our secondary up a level imo unless you think there's a better draft prospect that we could actually get?
I'm just reporting the truth, dude. Chiefs coulda had him last year, along with 30 other teams and didn't bother.
I watched him play as a Charger and the guy was a JAG, never understood the love last year when his name was being called for.
I didn't watch him in AZ, but he wasn't a good Charger.
Maybe they'll add him post-draft. Idk. But up to this point there isn't a lot of smoke around him. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Detoxing:
No, what im saying is that Hitchens being what everyone hoped he would be is no sure thing. It's a 50/50 proposition at this point and he was trending in the wrong direction. I have no idea why all of a sudden he couldn't cover a back out of the backfield or hit the correct gap, or not over shoot on a RB. I'm entertaining the idea that maybe he wasn't quite that good as initially thought. It's not like he was a beast in Dallas. He did his job more or less.
It's PFF FWIW, but he was like 3rd in pass coverage and 2nd in tackle percentage 2 years ago. You're overstating his deficiencies.
Originally Posted by Detoxing:
I don't buy this idea that there's only 3 LB's in this entire class worth a shit.
Most likely, as fans, we simply don't have all the information.
It's a position group that can be upgraded. And will be upgraded. It needs to be. It's the weakest group we have.
Maybe it doesn't even come through the draft.
There's a good number of edge and will backers. Not exactly a need. This team needs Mike and Sam, neither of which are very strong in this draft.
And sorry but there just aren't any clear upgrades available in FA, either. Yes, there are good players but none of them are head and shoulders better than Hitchens. [Reply]
I like what I saw from Watts and Lucas last year. But I haven't seen enough to feel confident moving into next season with what we have. I would prefer to see our first 3 picks be used on defense. Pass rushing DE, CB, and safety. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I think you could try but I don't know that he has the frame to do it. You're talking about adding, what, 35 lbs of weight? He's a hair north of 200 lbs, right? Really slight dude for a LB.
Anzalone was something like 225 coming out of college. He was built to put on a little more weight and not lose his speed. I don't see that in O'Daniel.
Originally Posted by Chiefspants:
A better safety than Sorenson could have made a difference on each of the Pats final two drives. He was a step (if not two steps) late on several plays.
I fully agree with your analysis otherwise.
Think this thru. If Sorensen didn't shoot that gap the way he did, the Patriots convert 4th and 1. Likely the Patriots score another TD making it 24-14.
Mahomes drives the Chiefs making it 24-21. Patriots run the clock out and win the game in regulation instead of throwing it on 3rd and long, etc, etc.
Sorenson pretty much helped get Sutton fired on that 4th and 1 play. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Detoxing:
Meanwhile, they'd still be getting ran all over because our LB's can't shed blocks and keep hitting the wrong gap.
This is becoming a common theme lately with teams getting smaller faster LB's on the field. Has anyone watched the Damien Williams highlights against the Colts in the playoffs?
Watch how terrible "all-pro" linebacker Darius Leonard was in that game. He's #53 with the white sleeves.
Tre Boston had 5 ints in 2017 as a FS, which is the position he played most of his career. Then in AZ, he played 14 games, they switched him to SS that year and he still gets his hands on 3 ints. So, he has the versatility which the Chiefs like... Ask him if he wants to win a Superbowl and grab him as cheap as possible since no one seems to be interested. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Detoxing:
They need good LB's period. SLB, WLB, MLB...whatever they can get. Let TC sort out the starters.
If they go into the season with the safeties they have now, they'd slide Dirty Dan into the box and use Tyrann at single high. Assuming they even play a lot of that, which is TBD.
Meanwhile, they'd still be getting ran all over because our LB's can't shed blocks and keep hitting the wrong gap.
Most teams use three safeties quite often now. [Reply]
Originally Posted by bricks:
I like him but thats a big “if” especially given his injury history. I have a feeling dude is injury prone. I wouldn’t bank on him.
ya it's a big if. Maybe we should draft another one. [Reply]
after reading back several pages of all of your posts-
Murray is hot garbage and not an NFL level player.
Sorensen is complete shit; can't cover, can't diagnose the run, frequently misses tackles looking for a highlight reel hit. Is slow, sloppy, and shitty. He makes up for all of that by being expensive.
Lucas is serviceable. Watts looked good in a small sample size. Both are more FS than SS I think.
Honeybadger is versatile, but should be in a box role at least 50% of the time.
We could use one more true FS OR fully versatile safety. a Thornhill or a Rapp type would be a nice chess piece. Also, Tre Boston would be a nice piece as he's versatile as well although a better FS I think.
LB is currently a bigger need than Safety or Corner. DE is perhaps even higher.
D'OD is totally capable of manning the WLB spot in a 3 down capacity. Wilson and Hitchens can both man a SAM spot, and Hitchens can man the MLB spot. So Wilson/Hitchens/D'OD is not terrible although I expect we'll add at least one more piece. [Reply]
