Chicago Bears 2015 Draft Breakdown: Adrian Amos

With their pick in the fifth round, the Chicago Bears took Adrian Amos, a safety out of Penn State. I was fairly bitter at this point, so I mentioned that Amos had been an honorable mention for All B1G the last three years, which basically just means that he played in a lot of games and showed a baseline competence. Not the sexiest accomplishment out there. But I'd be lying if I said I had ever focused on Amos's game, so I decided to watch his games against Ohio State and Indiana and see what I could figure out about the Bears new defensive back.

Watching his game against Indiana, I was initially taken aback by how little balance he seemed to have on contact. He got put on skates when blocked, and he seemed to trip over his own feet when trying to make a tackle when the quarterback broke free.

And if you are expecting a big, hard-hitting safety, you are sure to be disappointed by Amos. He not only does not provide any sort of big hits, he seems to actively avoid contact. He's no thumper, and even being a humper would be a huge step up in the way that he finds ways to get blocked as opposed to making open-field tackles.

The most appealing trait that Amos has is his versatility. It is tough to judge a safety in his coverages, but he seemed to be in the right area at the right times. Where he really impressed was when he came up to the line of scrimmage and played press-man coverage successfully against larger receiving targets.

Overall, I'm not sure if that versatility makes up for the fact that he doesn't shine in any one area and is a below average tackler. Having a safety that can come down and cover a slower wide receiver is great, but having a safety who doesn't tackle well means that you just have a replacement level corner. Coverage is something that is very difficult to judge from the sideline camera, so maybe the Bears were able to see something I wasn't, but from what I saw on film, I don't see anything more than depth at the safety position.