The safety position

[jap1]

Now that Berry is back and practicing, I wonder what the plan is for the safety position.

Right now we have Abdullah and Parker as starters and Berry and Branch backing them up, with a couple other guys in there (Sanders, etc). We have four guys who (assuming Berry is back to his old self) could be legitimate starters.

I think Abdullah has the FS spot locked down, as he is really the only one of them who seems most natural in the center fielder type role as FS. He is good at reading the QB, while keeping a lid over top.

Parker is decent at the SS position and played really well there last year.

Branch is a pretty good SS when he is healthy.

And then there is Berry. When healthy, he plays really well inside the box.

I feel like Branch is expendable, especially if Berry makes a good comeback. But when he is healthy, Branch is probably a lot better than Parker as a SS, but Parker is a little better in coverage.

I'm really interested in how this plays out over the year.

[brdempsey69]

One concern regarding Berry, is that I saw over at kcchiefs.com that he was able to throw up the 225lb benchpress bar 5 times. I know for a fact Berry was able to throw that bar up 19 times at the 2010 Combine. That right there tells you just how much Chemo has drained his strength, and also tells you that Berry isn't anywhere close to 100%. Spot duty as a deep Safety in obvious passing situations may be his best role in the 2015 season.

[jap1]

One concern regarding Berry, is that I saw over at kcchiefs.com that he was able to throw up the 225lb benchpress bar 5 times. I know for a fact Berry was able to throw that bar up 19 times at the 2010 Combine. That right there tells you just how much Chemo has drained his strength, and also tells you that Berry isn't anywhere close to 100%. Spot duty as a deep Safety in obvious passing situations may be his best role in the 2015 season.

Thats a good pickup. I had a hard time really believing all the hype of him being ready to play at a high level again. I saw pics of him and while everyone was saying he was in great shape, I thought he looked noticeably smaller.

I agree, until he has the strength to bump around with linemen and TEs, he is likely only useful as a center fielder, assuming he still has his speed.

[ctchiefsfan]

I'm as happy to see Berry back as anyone, but as has been mentioned many times as this has unfolded chemo is using one poison to kill another. It surely isn't "take 2 aspirin and call me in the morning". Despite the hype, I would be very surprised to see Berry back to "his old self" any time soon. Having seen 2 friends go through chemo I just have a hard time imagining Berry will have the stamina he did...at least not for a while.

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't expect Berry to be anywhere near 100% this year.