Our countdown to kickoff continues with our fifth most-important member of the Chicago Bears. This player will be a key to the Bears defense in just his first season with the team.
No. 10 | No. 9 | No. 8 | No. 7 | No. 6
Adrian Amos
He hasn’t played a down of regular season football in the NFL, but rookie Adrian Amos is already one of the most important Chicago Bears for the 2015 season. When the Bears lineup against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Amos will be starting alongside Antrel Rolle as the first safety combination of the season.
It’s a critical position on this Bears defense which will transition into a base 3-4 defense under Vic Fangio. Last season the Bears secondary as a whole was a mess. The secondary ranked 28th in the NFL in pass coverage according to Pro Football Focus and they had some of the worst ranked safeties in the league.
With Chris Conte gone, Ryan Mundy hurt and Brock Vereen not looking impressive, the 22-year-old Amos gets his shot right away. The Bears took Amos in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft hoping they found a steal and their safety of the future. The rookie started to impress in camp beating out Mundy and Vereen for the job as he was listed as the starter for the team’s week two preseason game versus the Colts. Once Mundy was put on season-ending IR, it was clear that Amos was the guy after beating out Vereen.
The task won’t be easy for Amos right away and there will be some rookie mistakes but that’s going to happen in the NFL. The bad part is that right away Amos will have to go up against one of the best quarterbacks in the league when Aaron Rodgers comes to town.
If you’re expecting Amos to play stellar football in week one, you might as well forget about it. The rookie is going to make mistakes but its his development throughout the season that is key. If Amos can develop and finally end a drought of poor safety play in the future, it will be a big plus for the organization. But his importance is already noted as a rookie stepping into a critical position on this defense which will have to be a lot better for the Bears to succeed.
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