Preface: Six Months Ago
Six months ago there was uncertainty on who the Chiefs would use their Franchise Tag on. The common perception was that it was a two-man race between Eric Berry and Sean Smith (with the occasional Jaye Howard thrown in there). I for one, wanted to see Smith tagged, I thought it would be easier to get a deal done with Berry over Smith.
The day it was announced Berry was the one who would receive the tag I remember my first reaction was utter joy because EB29 is my favorite active Chief. I have the “Berry Strong” shirt, 2 jerseys and custom made shirt with his name and number on the back. I couldn’t imagine a Chiefs team without him lined up in the back of the defense; just as capable of meeting a runner at the LOS as he is covering any TE in the league (Gronk is not human so he doesn’t count).
Once it set in a little that EB29 had been tagged, I realized that Sean Smith would no longer be a member of the team. There was just no way it could have been done.
I know John Dorsey (JD) kept Sean Smith’s agent entertained for a little while after FA started, but there was never any real chance he signed for what we could offer him and I can’t really blame him. With his age and the physical nature with which he plays his position combined with the contracts he formerly played under the dude wanted to get paid. He knew it was his last shot at getting the big contract. You take that, add in the fact he is from Pasadena, California, and the Oakland team had a stack of blank checks to write and it is a no brainer; the Chiefs will see him lined up in enemy colors twice a year.
Every site that covered the Chiefs or the NFL as a whole wrote a piece confirming it was Berry being tagged and the following is a comment I left on one of these sites:
“I was honestly hoping the headline today would read “Chiefs and Berry get deal done, Smith slapped with the tag” but I am extremely happy we will see more of Berry in Kansas City. This is all but the writing on the wall for Smith in Kansas City and Dorsey will have his hands full setting our corners up success. Gains may be the answer across from Peters, but will he be full speed before St Joe’s? Who is going to play inside? Is there a corner in free agency this year that fits the mold all the way around? The size, the aggressiveness, the ability to jam and fits in the payroll? Is there a guy at 28? Is the front seven good enough to support Peters Gains and a rookie as the primary corners? My brain always cooks this time of year with way too many questions and no way to answer them. Luckily I think we have one of the better front offices in the league and I’m sure that Dorsey and his guys have some kind of contingency plan in place. Maybe it isn’t a contingency at all and they never thought about bring Smith back in.”
Frankly Speaking: My Take
I am a firm believer that the team is made of all of its members, not one man. Frankly speaking… I thought that Sean Smith made the position group what it was. I thought that without him, the secondary was going to be doomed this year, which meant doom for the entire defense in my mind. So naturally my mind went into overdrive trying to figure out what was going to happen in the following months at the CB position. In the comment above I asked a few questions, questions that we have some answers to now, or at least the beginning of an answer.
Phillip Gaines may be the answer across from Marcus Peters, but will he be full speed before St Joe’s?
All indications point to him being ready to go. He has been out there running with the ones. From what I can see in the videos being posted by fans at training camp he looks smooth. He looks ready to play.
Andy Reid (AR) said at the beginning of camp that Gaines had added a few pounds and came back stronger, which is always a plus in Sutton’s press scheme. Now it is just a matter of where he plays.
Who is going to play inside?
This might be the man I was just talking about, Gaines. It has been “common knowledge” that Gaines, providing healthy, would come back and walk into the number 2 job.
In the last week Steven Nelson has been seeing most of the reps outside during team drills with the slot being manned by either Gaines or third round pick (our second overall pick this year) KeiVarae Russell. Gaines has experience in the slot and looked good before he was hurt last year. Russell and Nelson are unproven at any corner position so I really don’t know what we have in either of them but I think we are going to find out this year.
My prediction here is that Gaines will get the nod outside with Nelson getting first crack inside. I wouldn’t surprise me at all if until someone can lock down one of these spots that the three of them kind of rotate between the 2 spots.
As long as it isn’t Parker (who needs to stay at Safety) or Cooper (who should be unemployed soon IMO). I think Sutton will get it figured out.
Is there a corner in free agency this year that fits the mold all the way around? The size, the aggressiveness, the ability to jam and fits in the payroll?
The short answer for this one is no. According to an article I found on Yahoo Sports there were 49 free agent CB’s this year. Of those 49, about 12 of them signed contracts too rich for JD’s blood. Out of the rest of them you had journeyman type guys, guys that were too small not physical enough, or guys that were past their prime (all reasons they didn’t get the big $$ contracts).
Maybe we could have risked someone coming off injury like Nolan Carrol or Brandon Boykin, but why do that when you have a guy in house who is younger and knows the system also coming back from injury.
I think JD knew going into the offseason that he would kick the tires on a few guys, he did bring in a couple for workouts, but ultimately draft a slew of guys to replenish the CB ranks.
Is there a guy at 28?
With 1/5 of the top 25 picks being CB’s the talent pool for the “elite prospects” was shallow so JD took the pick, packaged it with a 7th and got a 2nd, 4th and 6th (only moved down 9 spots). Those picks became Chris Jones, Parker Ehinger and D.J. White, 2 of which are slated to be big time contributors this year, with White being the guy not expected to.
The reason for this may be that he was the third CB to be drafted by the Chiefs this year. Russell, mentioned above, and White were joined by 4th round pick Eric Murray. Murray has been seeing time at safety during camp and White is just trying to make the roster.
In the end I think all three will make the team, Russell as a regular in rotation, Murray as a hybrid type reserve, playing both Safety and CB and White seeing limited if any playing time at CB.
Is the front seven good enough to support Peters, Gaines and a rookie as the primary corners?
[This is another article all in itself but, I will touch on it briefly.]
YES!!!
Even with Houston being out until, who knows when, and Hali still trying to coax his gerbil to get back on the wheel for one more season, this is the strength of the defense. This is the unit, mainly the D-Line, that will make it easier for these young guys (the average age of the top 6 guys, including Murray, but not Cooper, is 22.8) to come in and get adjusted in the backfield.
You are going to see some mistakes from the CB group this year, especially early, but the play from the front 7 should limit the situations the CB’s will be in to make these mistakes.
So where does this leave the Chiefs CB group?
They are a young, unproven group that has that hunger. You can tell by watching the videos from camp that each and every one of these guys is out there pushing themselves and each other. Not one video that I’ve seen have I been like “man, he didn’t even try” or “where was he on that play”.
It is clear that Marcus Peters’ has taken the leadership role in the CB group (and the whole defense with EB29 not being out there), and that the other guys have shown some of his “swag” before, during, and after drills.
The best part is they actually have some WR’s pushing them this year with that spot being as deep as it has for a long time. Whether it is Peters on J-Mac, Russell on Hill, Gaines on De’Anthony Thomas, or Nelson on Conley, there are no easy match-ups. Every time they line up across from someone they know they have to give their all or they are going to be made to look silly (in all fairness WR Tyreek Hill has made everyone look silly in camp this year so….)
Long story short, I feel good about where this team is at in regards to the corners. I feel a lot better living in with post-Sean Smith team than I did when I knew it was coming but wasn’t quite there yet. Saturday will give us some more insight as to where they are at but from what I’ve seen and what I’ve read so far it should be fun to watch them progress this year.
So what do you think Chiefs fans? Am I completely off base here or does anyone else think we are going to be okay at cornerback?