Former Chicago Bears safety, Adrian Amos does not rank very high
Alright, when we compare Adrian Amos to the rest of the safeties in the NFL, he does not lead the way in any category. He snagged his second interception versus the Seahawks on Sunday when Russell Wilson threw a bomb into double coverage in a desperation attempt in the fourth quarter. The play was hardly impressive and not one worthy of being called a playmaker.
His tackle numbers are up this season, but that has plenty to do with the fact he has allowed a career-high 76.7% of his targets to be completed. Amos was 65th in tackles in 2020 — 26th among safeties. In a down year for Eddie Jackson, he recorded one less tackle than Amos last year. Don’t let Packers fans fool you when they try to say Amos is that much better than Jackson who has proven to at least be a playmaker at one point in his career.
In fact, not having him on the field now shows how much he means to the team outside of his lack of big plays that he was able to show in 2018. Again, when comparing him to the rest of the league, he just does not show enough to be considered a playmaker. He shows enough to be an average, reliable safety. There’s nothing wrong with that, but that doesn’t mean the Bears were wrong in letting him walk.
The defense didn’t lose anything with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in the backfield in 2019, other than a scheme issue with both Jackson and Clinton-Dix being similar players. They have seen a slight dip in performance by Tashaun Gipson (mostly this season), but for the money, it has been as good of a bang for their buck. Everyone wants to point to that 2018 season, but it was the Bears pass rush that helped Jackson more than Amos for what it’s worth.
The point here is that Packers fans seem to hold onto the idea that because they are winning, Adrian Amos is a key factor in those wins. He is hardly that. I don’t know how else to say it other than he is an average, reliable safety and fits in well in Green Bay, just as he did here in Chicago.
However, the Packers are 16th in DVOA and struggle versus the run (22nd). Their defense is not a world-beater. Oh, and Pro Football Focus may love Amos (had him ranked 9th heading into 2021), but they also have his stats wrong, so how can we even trust them? Amos had two interceptions in 2021, but their ranking article has him with three. Ha!
Either way, is two interceptions per year and average in most categories worth being paid the 17th-most in the NFL among safeties? I guess you could say that’s about average until you take into account two starting safeties per team.