David Bell Kansas City Chiefs

Chiefs Bringing It Down the “Hidden Road” – Why Safeties are Now a Strength

David Bell June 28, 2019 No Comments Gallery

Chiefs Bringing It Down the “Hidden Road”  – Why Safeties are Now a Strength – I don’t think any of us realized how much was going to be accomplished in one offseason. I was optimistic but, Brett Veach has worked marvels.

Why a “Hidden Road”? The answer lies with the two players who were already on the roster before the “Re-tool” began. Then if you add the third player from this particular focus article and add to Mathieu and Sorensen, you can see why I find what has been accomplished a true feat by our GM.

It is true that the Chiefs subtracted the much beloved Eric Berry and the quite less loved Eric Murray. Fast forward to the addition of a top Strong Safety by signing Free Agent Tyrann Mathieu, who is also a verbal leader, while also getting out front on the field. Since Berry really gave us little to nothing for 2 straight seasons, this is a total upgrade!

A year ago, before the 2018 preseason games began, I became very positive about the play of Armani Watts. He was more than fulfilling the promise that I felt was there when he was drafted. In fact, I felt he was an undervalued DB who would quickly and successfully become a starter. As things progressed, I was convinced of that my optimism was well found after Watts joined the club in 2018. Unfortunately for him, he suffered a core muscle tear and lost his rookie season.

The injury doesn’t deter me from my outlook for Watt’s success as a Chief. If anything, I remain convinced he will be the #3 safety in talent and fill in a foursome at Safety along with Jordan Lucas. I thought when GM Brett Veach reached out and obtained Lucas that he had made a very good move and Jordan’s play at the end of the season in 2018 convinced me of this. Jordan was another player that should have been playing earlier and DC Bob Sutton did not do this, similarly what happened to Charvarius Ward at Cornerback.

Regardless of what your opinion is about these two players, and the addition of who will be support for Tyrann Mathieu and newly drafted, 2nd round pick Juan Thornhill, who is slated as a starter at safety… the weak play which couldn’t cover behind the Corners in front of them in 2018, the Chiefs have a solid group of players with a range of talent and leadership that is natural to their bonafides.

At this point, we have all been reading about the addition of Tyrann Mathieu and seen him emerging as a leader on defense and he certainly should be a top NFL Safety for the Chiefs. Let’s look beyond both Mathieu and Daniel Sorensen (a great aggressive player that fits to the hybrid, nickel and dime but not a starter). Sorensen is a top tackler in the box, as is Mathieu.

Watts, Lucas and Thornhill round out what will be a top NFL Safety group with 5 players considered at least at this point. This group will be a tough bunch of defenders — something totally lacking the past two seasons. The Chiefs could not cover behind their Corners who were thus constantly exposed to breakdowns in coverage. With this group? Both run support and pass defense are a total upgrade which greatly benefits all that unfolds in front of Spagnuolo’s Safeties benefiting Corners and Linebackers at the same time.

For my purpose, keeping in mind that talent which exists among my 5 selected safeties, by covering Thornhill, Lucas, and Watts, I have a distinct and powerful group of safeties. I have purposely not included known commodities of Mathieu and Sorensen below. As of right now, the Chiefs have 5 players in the room and I like this enough to go to camp this way whether Sorensen sticks or is released or if Thornhill is moved to the CB role.

Keep in mind that I have not highlighted either Rashad Fenton — a 2019, 6th round draft pick — or UDFA Mark Fields. I do think Fields has a good shot at making the roster, as will Fenton, but it may be the Practice Squad (PS) for one or the other… or both.

Others to view? Harold Jones-Quartey, Herb Miller, Andrew Soroh, and D’montre Wade… as I think they are unlikely to make the 53-man roster. As far as 63 man(53 + PS-10)? That is a late preseason decision that we will see about when the time arrives.

Armani Watts

Back before Watts was drafted I had added him to my list of draft picks that were undervalued at their position and by pundits and analysts. Watts went at position #124 overall in the draft but I felt he was undervalued and should be at the top of round 3, or perhaps even as talented as to deserving to be a round 2 pick. I do know the Chiefs were ecstatic to have been able to draft him at 124. Analysts were much tougher on grading the Chiefs draft selecting in the 3rd round LB Dorian O’Daniel who really wasn’t a fit for a 34 ILB (maybe this is another indicator that Veach was looking at a shift away from the 3-4 a year ahead of where they did it).

Watts was a 4-year starter at Safety for the Texas A&M Aggies which says quite a lot about him. At first it appeared he would enter the draft as a Junior but he changed his mind to garner another year of coaching and experience. He already had a reputation as a player with a nose for the ball, who was “rangy,” had great instinct on reading plays, and coming up to make plays in support of run defense. Most analysts felt that he was best as a deep Free Safety making him a tremendous selection in the rounds 3-4.

Watching film and knowing a bit about the Aggies myself (my niece attended A&M at the time and my brother and she went to all the games so, I asked them about Watts), I decided Watts was the right kind of player for the Chiefs to make a selection and moved him up on my draft board. One of the knocks against him at the time of the draft was his “length.” At the time he was 5’11” but he is now 6’0″ and that is goodness. His SAQ and Speed are good with good vertical at 35 inches.

What I seek is present in his physical attributes which highlights his athleticism with very good looseness in the hips, quick and fluid afoot and possessing good timing, twitchy-ness and instinct. He did have knocks on his ability as well: size and build (now I think he has grown out of that). During 4 years as a starter he missed games and had some inconsistent (missed) tackling. It was my view on watching tape that the weaknesses could be overcome with good coaching and what we observed last year was showing that he had made tremendous strides to overcome the weaknesses and certainly was felt to be far more advantageous as a player with speed than Murray or Sorensen. Then? Bang: the core muscle injury happened.

Watts could well be the player that allows DC Steve Spagnuolo to use Juan Thornhill in as many versatile ways as possible or clearly if things go south in the CB room. Thornhill could move in without a hitch and this is possible since Watts is geared to play Free Safety beside Mathieu.

Jordan Lucas

I liked Jordan Lucas, who didn’t have a starting role, with Dolphins nor the Chiefs, until it was necessary to provide a solution to a problem that Sutton avoided. Lucas started the last 4 games of the 2018 season. It appeared that finally, Reid stepped in and Lucas was moved to a starting role and played pretty well for a pro who had never started. When acquired he provided a player with depth to the safety role but also a top performer on special teams. This brief stint as a starter is not proof that he is that level of player but you could see improvement in the secondary.

Keep in mind the team was without Berry and then when Berry finally came back he was not the same Berry he had always been, which made the contribution of Lucas all the more important.

It is very likely that Lucas can help in a large number of snaps per game when Spags wants to shift up or if Thornhill is moved to CB (see below) or just in mix and match scenarios. I see Lucas as having earned his bones in 2018 and in postseason play, but he must build on that and show it quickly in 2019. I believe he will do so at least as a #3 or #4 safety. His S/T play will help him earn that position on the roster at any rate.

Juan Thornhill

So let’s take a closer than just a peek at who Juan Thornhill is and what his talents are. Observing other talent and playing down as opposed to a center fielder (Single-High). After Day 2 of the draft, Chiefs GM Brett Veach observed about the selection of Thornhill: “Juan is very versatile… He can do a lot of different things for you…” During those comments Veach mentioned that Thornhill could play cornerback and did so at Virginia.

Veach went on to state that:

 

“…We have some really good safeties, but these guys we have, I think the knack they have is kind of down low. The Honey Badger (Mathieu) said in his press conference he feels like Superman close to the football. Armani Watts had a lot of those traits and Dan (Sorensen) is a guy that played down a lot. (Jordan) Lucas is a guy that has some range back there, but I think Juan gives you a true free safety, center fielder.”

 

The Chiefs cannot rule out playing Thornhill at CB, or as another virtual reality type multi-tool, similar to Tyrann Mathieu who played all over for Houston’s defense. For Thornhill it is possible that he could move to Cornerback to start with. Keep in mind, Juan Thornhill has 2 years of collegiate play at Cornerback plus a year at safety. This might fit a plan that Veach reached for and saw before they moved him up the board on draft day: the Chiefs used Dale Carter as a Corner though Carter was a Corner in college, transitioned to safety in college and then back again at the Pro level. Thornhill may be asked to play a similar role. Why? Because he has the speed and SAQ (Short Area Quickness, i.e., feet) to play solid Cornerback. Kirk Larabee of 247 Sports observed that,
“….Thornhill, who has spent his share of time at cornerback in his career, believes his ability to fill multiple roles helped his draft stock. The Chiefs were pleasantly surprised when he was still available at pick 63, but he wouldn’t have slipped much further than that given the value he can provide…”
“Thornhill possesses an openness in communication that is refreshing as well. He says of himself when interviewed by BJ Kissel of Chiefs.com: “”I think the versatility helped a lot, honestly… If there’s a team that’s looking for a cornerback, and specifically a cornerback, why not get a guy who can play both positions? If you can get a guy that plays safety and cornerback, you definitely have more value with that player.”
That very observation mirrors what our GM said. Thornhill is a ball hawk and we need one at both Corner and Safety. He had 13 INT’s as a Virginia Cavalier, 4 as a Corner and 6 as a Safety with a couple coming from different, more hybrid, roles. To Thornhill where they line him up doesn’t matter… he said to Larrabee: “I’m just ready to get that work and help the team get to the Super Bowl.”
My bottom Line? I think no matter how the Chiefs handle it, they now have a top safety group and players who are versatile enough to slip up into the Cornerback role as needed. This aids that group and it’s depth as needed. As you can see from comments by GM Brett Veach that he feels pretty confident about the safeties already in house. So do I, Brett… so do I.
Upcoming Articles:
Chiefs: Rookie Back Road Comes to Fruition: Kahlen Saunders and the One Tech

David Bell — ArrowheadOne

 

 

 

If you are viewing this in Apple News and would like to join the Discussion, [GO HERE.](http://arrowheadone.com/chiefs-bringing-it-down-the-hidden-road-why-safeties-are-now-a-strength/#disqus_thread)

 

 

 

/