Chicago Bears Draft Profile: S Adrian Amos
Matthew O
The Chicago Bears had one of the best overall drafts in recent history and signed some interesting undrafted free agents as well. Over the next week Beargoggleson will be breaking down the Bears draft picks and the undrafted free agents with a legitimate shot to make the 2015 roster. With a new management team taking over the leadership of the Bears and the Bears transitioning to new schemes on both sides of the ball, there will be significant roster turnover. Rumors are already circulating about some veteran players and recent draft picks that may not be on the roster in 2015. With all of the turnover in the front office and coaching staff, there is more of an opportunity than usual for rookies to make the team.
S Adrian Amos, Penn St
Overview:
Amos spent 3 seasons as a cornerback at Penn St before switching to safety his senior year. His size and experience as a corner gives Amos the ability to be an asset in coverage, but once he switched to safety Amos showed the ability to be a force against the run as well. Amos was solid in run support, coming down as an in-the-box / sub-package LB at times for the Nittany Lions and was also an intimidating presence in the middle of the field with multiple highlight reel hits on receivers bold enough to lay out over the middle.
The Bears were lucky that Amos fell as far as he did considering he had a strong performance in the Senior Bowl and ran a 4.37 40-time at his pro day. He doesn’t have much experience on special teams, but with his athleticism Amos should be able to make a significant contribution to the Bears coverage teams if he doesn’t earn a starting job.
Stats / Highlights:
- 7 career interceptions
- 3.9 yards per attempt on targets to players Amos covered
- 159 career tackles
- 19 pass breakups
Strengths:
Versatility is what made Amos such a perfect fit for the Bears. His experience as a corner and his strength in run support gives Amos the ability to play either free or strong safety, which is exactly what DC Vic Fangio looked for in his safeties while with the 49ers. He has good length (6’0), elite short are quickness with top 3 scores at the safety position in both the 20 & 60 yard shuttles, the ability to play man, zone, and press coverage, and natural timing as a hitter. Even in the Senior Bowl against the top players in CFB, Amos laid a receiver out forcing an incompletion. With 4.37 speed Amos has the speed and range to be a free safety, and the awareness, football instincts, and toughness to play strong safety. The Bears are thinner at safety than possibly any team in the league and a player like Amos who can fill in at either spot is a great value in the 5th round.
Weaknesses:
After watching a significant amount of tape on Amos, I am higher on him than most draftniks. I don’t see a lot of flaws in his game. I’m nitpicking here, but Amos isn’t a gambler. He sticks with his responsibilities and doesn’t take many risks which will limit his ability to create turnovers. Amos also goes for the big hit more often than he should which can result in some missed tackles. He is a solid all-around player though with few glaring flaws in his game, which should be a welcome change to Bears fan used to safeties making consistent mistakes.
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Bears Fit:
The safety position has been a major problem for the Bears the last few seasons. For some reason Phil Emery didn’t think it was important despite the proliferation of 3 & 4 WR sets, but the new regime seems to know the Bears need an influx of talent at the position. They added Antrel Rolle, Adrian Amos, and UDFA Anthony Jefferson this offseason which should help, but the Bears need somebody to step up behind the starters (Rolle, Mundy). Amos is the Bears best bet. Last year’s 4th round pick Brock Vereen didn’t show enough last season (or in college) to make me believe he is anything more than a special teams guy. As I mentioned earlier in this post, DC Vic Fangio prefers versatile safeties who can play in the box or deep in coverage. Both starters have that ability, but of the reserves only Amos has the skill-set to play either safety position. I think he will be part of the safety rotation from week 1 on and could take Ryan Munday’s job by the second half of the season.
Highlights: