Paul Pulley

3 New DBs for the Kansas City Chiefs・Paul Pulley

LadnerMorse May 7, 2018 No Comments

 

 

 

 

3 New DBs for the Kansas City Chiefs

By・Paul Pulley

 

 

In the 6th round of the 2018 NFL draft the Chiefs selected Tremon Smith from Central Arkansas.

 

Smith is a small school prospect that will have to earn his spot on the team initially as a special teams player. Smith was a punt returner at Central Arkansas as well as playing cornerback for 4 years. Smith played all four years and was a three year starter in college. As a corner, Smith (5-11—190) was left on an island and finished his career at Central Arkansas with 146 tackles, 53 passes defensed and 15 interceptions. Smith is a 2017 Walter Camp FCS All-American defensive back.Lance Zierlein at NFL.com states;

 

“Extremely confident and extremely greedy as an on-ball defender, Smith was asked to play the role of island defender and did so at a high level. While he faced a lower level of competition, he possesses the size, speed, athletic ability and instincts that should be able to translate to the league. Smith has the potential to fight for either an outside or slot role, but he’ll need to play with better discipline in order to avoid penalties and big plays.”

 

In an interview while visiting the Oakland Raiders, Tremon Smith stated;

 

“I would actually practice and do my one-on-one in the slots just because my position coach was always telling me I would end up playing nickel. I actually like it a little better than playing on the outside and I am familiar with it from practicing it.”

 

While not invited to the NFL Combine, “Tre” Smith ran a 4.32—40 at his pro day and had a 34 inch vertical. Undoubtably his fast 40 time helped to garner interest from not only the Chiefs and Raiders, but also the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles to name a few. In a post draft interview, Chiefs scout Willie Davis stated that Smith is “competitive, always goes full speed” and that he is “confident that he can play against the best.” Davis also noted that Smith realizes there will be a learning curve and will need to earn his place on the team on special teams.

 

Tre Smith, from Anniston Alabama, played baseball and basketball as well as football. In high school football, he was a WR and his coach moved him to QB his senior year on offense and he also played CB on defense. Although certain to be relegated to special teams as a rookie, with his speed and ball hawking skills, Smith could start to see significant playing time on defense as early as 2019.

 

 

 

UDFA D’Montre Wade, 5-11—206, Wade comes to us from Murray State, located in Murray, Kentucky, west of Nashville, where he was a four year starter and finished his career with 176 total tackles, 45 passes defensed and 10 interceptions. Wade received a 2018 NFL Combine invitation where he ran a 4.57 — 40-yards dash, a 4.4 short shuttle and had a 35.5 inch vertical along jump plus a 120 inch — 10 foot — broad jump.

 

 

 

 

Wade is known as mostly a zone defender and also a solid tackler. With 6 of his career interceptions coming in his senior season, Wade was named to1st team All Ohio Valley Conference. Coming from Columbia Tennessee, Wade played running back in high school and was switched to defensive back at Murray State. He is the Murray State program leader in passes defensed. He also has experience returning kicks.

 

 

 

 

 

Interestingly, Wade had some of the longest arms — 32 ⅜ — and largest hands — 9 ⅞ — of all the defensive backs measured at the combine. It has been stated that Wade might project better as a safety. Wade’s best chance to make the Chiefs team will be on the practice squad where he will have a chance to develop.

 

 

 

UDFA Arrion Springs, 5-11—205, from San Antonio Texas, played collegiately at Oregon. Springs was a 2017 All PAC-12 Honorable Mention but wasn’t invited to the combine. In his career at Oregon, he finished with 137 tackles, 42 passes defensed and 2 interceptions. As a senior in 2017, Springs was rated as the number 1 defensive back in the PAC-12 by pro Football Focus. At the Oregon’s pro day Springs ran a 4.46—40 but ran the short shuttle in 4.51. He had a 32 inch vertical, a 9’ 10” broad jump and ran the 3 cone in 7.02.

 

 

 

A 4-star recruit out of high school, it appears that Springs is pretty good all around, but just not great at any one thing. With only 2 career interceptions, having good hands is not a strong point as he appears to have dropped several chances to add to that total. Even though Springs hands aren’t the best, he does seem to have good ball tracking skills which allows him to breakup so many passes. His tackling skills may be a concern, and he may not be a good matchup to bigger, more physical receivers.

 

Like Wade, Springs will likely need to earn a spot on the practice squad to have a chance to continue his career in the NFL.

 

 

The Chiefs don’t need CBs who are good athletes… they need athletes who are good CBs (best regards to StarKist). Let us know who you think will have a chance to make the team in the comments section below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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