The Chicago Bears aren’t known for their high-end talent right now, but one of their top defenders has earned All-Pro status from Pro Football Focus.
Safety Adrian Amos was chosen to PFF’s All-Pro Team as a first-team safety after his work in 2017. Amos’ 92.0 grade was the second best among safeties, as only Harrison Smith’s 98.8 ranked higher among players at the position. Not bad for a guy who didn’t start until Week 4, eh?
After losing his starting job to rookie Eddie Jackson (only to return to a starter’s role when Quintin Demps went on injured reserve) Amos enjoyed a breakout season this year. He earned PFF’s fourth best run defense grade (89.0) and sixth best coverage grade (89.5). Moreover, this marks the second straight season in which Amos’ coverage grade has taken a major leap, which is a sign the third-year safety is coming into his own and rounding out his skill set. Amos has been a stud against the run in each of his first two seasons, but was held without an interception. That changed in the team’s Week 6 win against the Baltimore Ravens when Amos came away with an important pick-six.
During the summer, Sam Monson named Amos a “secret superstar” and Amos certainly lived up to the billing with how he played in 2017. Amos will enter his fourth season with the team as a primary starter in each of his first four seasons and in a good position to ask for (and possibly receive) an extension. The Bears would be wise to keep Amos around after unearthing this gem in the fifth round of GM Ryan Pace’s first draft class.
How Pace upgrades the roster for 2018 should be one of the questions head coach candidates should be asking when meeting with the Bears in the coming days and weeks. Chicago doesn’t have too many high-end talents, but Pace should be able to name-drop Amos and talk him up as a building block for a defense that finished in the top third of the league in yards allowed and scoring defense.