Chicago Bears 2015 Position Preview: Safety

Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Primary Backups

Brock Vereen

I wasn’t high on the Vereen pick when the Bears made it due to his lack of size and struggles tackling at the college level. Vereen is a great athlete, but had a hard time bringing down NFL ball carriers. He’s better suited for a sub-package corner role than a safety unless of course he can get strong enough to be a more effective tackler at the NFL level. Vereen played more than expected last season (513 snaps) due to injuries and incompetence in the Bears secondary, but played poorly for most of the season (-4.2 grade). He did show signs of improvement after being moved into a starting role the last three weeks of the season (+3.0 grade).

Vereen was actually pretty solid in coverage last season (1.0 overall grade, 3.4 as starter) and he has the speed (4.47) and instincts to be effective against the pass. His ability to stop the run will be what decides Vereen’s role with the Bears. Fangio prefers versatile safeties and right now Vereen is a one-dimensional player. It’s possible Vereen’s struggles were due to the adjustment to NFL speed, but even with his improved play late in the season he still had a hard time tackling (-1.1 vs run).  In my opinion he is a bad fit for Fangio’s scheme and won’t be more than a competent backup as a safety. If some of the Bears young safeties (Amos, Jefferson) earn spots on the roster, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Vereen move to corner where his tackling issues won’t be as exposed.

Matthew O

Adrian Amos

The Bears finally have a solid starting safety combo (Rolle, Mundy) but will need depth at the position. Brock Vereen has the skills to contribute in coverage, but lacks the power to be a run defender and isn’t versatile enough right now to start in Fangio’s scheme. That leaves Amos as the next man up. On paper he has the size (6’0 | 218), speed (4.37), power (21 reps of 225), and short area quickness (top 3 scores among safeties in both 20 & 60 yard shuttles) to play either position. Amos was a big hitter as a safety last season and also has three years experience playing corner at the college level.

Amos can hold his own in coverage, provide solid run support, and absolutely lay people out over the middle. He is a tough, intelligent safety prospect with good instincts who can provide depth at either position and bring some toughness to the middle of the field that the Bears have been lacking the last few years. If the Bears need a replacement for either starting safety at some point this season, I think it will be Amos who gets the call.