Spin-Off Thread - Why Isn't Berry Our Single-High Safety?
 

Okay, he's a beast in the box. Murders RB's. Rushes the QB like a mother****er.

However.

We are talking about the NCAA record holder for most interception return yards of all time. He is STELLAR in coverage, everywhere, except sometimes when he is covering TE's..... because he's in the box. He also is a head hunter and would murder guys coming across the middle.

Why Not:
- Get a run-stuffing safety, who can cover the bigger, slower TE's well, and have Berry stay single high?
- And mix it up, so on situational plays where we want to use Berry's blitzing skills and have him rush, why not have a CB drop into the S position and have DJ slide over to cover the lesser-of-evil WR's that the CB abandoned?

We did this in the playoffs with Abdullah. Would have been great if we had someone apart from Lewis.

I'm not sure what the hang-up has been, here. Maybe Berry really does just project to strong safety.

I think when Monte Kiffen took over the Volunteer defense and moved Berry to SS, Berry began to add upper body mass to his frame to get stronger and take the puonding.

He's stronger now, but not as quick as he was when he was leaner at the FS position.

He'd have to reverse the process at this point.

Forgive my ignorance, but please explain to me the difference between a SS and a FS as it relates to a single-high set up.

My understanding has always been that the SS is on the TE side of the ball, closer to the line of scrimmage, while the FS is deeper, and on the opposite side of the TE.

Berry is still plenty fast and agile. I don't understand the he added more weight so he can't play it.

Guys can bulk up (Cap) but I think the opposite is tough. It is natural for guys to fill out a bit as the get to 21 22. You are right he added upper body mass I don't think just losing weight would do it.

It's not like it ****ing slowed him down THAT much.

When they did put Berry back there, he took angles that were way too safe and allowed the big play anyways.

I forgot what game it was but the most glaring one was on a ball down the sideline that hung in the air. Berry was the single high safety and ran over to stop the play, only problem was that he ended up a good 5 yards beyond the point of the catch and was only able to make the tackle instead of a play on the ball. I think he did that a few times and after that I never saw him at single high for us again.

hey, if you're gonna **** up, you might as well **** up by going deeper than the catch instead of short of it, or off to the side (hi, kendrick).

Might've been the result of him not playing much Single high for most of his NFL career. Hard to say.

Personally, i think he's not being played at FS because he's so damn good around the LoS.

Have you seen Kendrick Lewis tackle? At this point in his career, Berry is more of a box guy than a pure rangy/cover guy. We're still looking for that guy.

Terrence Brooks please. 4.42 40 with great instincts in both the run and pass game and is a fearless hitter. Only downside is limited starting experience (only 2 years of significant college playing time at FS), average hands, and he's fairly new to the FS position (converted corner). He looks like a flying missile on film though.

From what I see, Berry fails to get himself between the receiver and the ball, seemingly thinking that he can rely on his athleticism to make the play from behind. However, while that worked in college, it doesn't at the NFL level as everyone is big, fast and good.

Basically, his fundamentals in the passing game are poor.

His so-called record for return yardage on interceptions is a result of his speed at the college level. And he's shown that when he does get interceptions at this level, but he's a liability in the passing game. However, he's one of the best front end safeties in the NFL.

Right now, I'd put him just behind Kam Chancellor as far as strong safeties go and on par or just a bit ahead of TJ Ward.

But he certainly isn't a complete safety like Eric Weddle, Troy Polamalu or Earl Thomas.

That's why the Chiefs need to get a guy to play that deep middle.

As of right now, I'd love to see Clinton-Dix with the Chiefs pick. He's excellent at just that - covering the deep part of the field.

This is something that could be addressed in FA..there are a shit ton of safeties that are going to be available.