Defensive Backs
- Cornerback Brandon Carr: Carr was third in the NFL in pass deflections with 26. He had the best season of his career. He also finished with 57 tackles and an interception. Carr has developed from the zone defender that Herm Edwards drafted him to be to a nice man-to-man defender as well in the current defensive scheme.
- VALUABLE
- Cornerback Travis Daniels: Daniels, most of the time, came in on obvious passing situations: nickel, dime, quarter defenses. In his limited capacity, he had eight tackles and one interception. We were depleted in the secondary this season. Daniels filled in nicely throughout all the injuries. I'd give him another year.
- VALUABLE
- Cornerback Maurice Leggett: Leggett didn't play this year, finding himself on injured reserve throughout the season. Being out of the lineup for a year, it will be hard for him to come back smoothly.
- EXPENDABLE
- Safety Jon McGraw: McGraw's presence on the team was slowly scaled down throughout the season for rookie Kendrick Lewis. McGraw had five starts and recorded 39 tackles and 2 interceptions. Lewis, who had 10 starts, had 30 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 3 interceptions. Although McGraw's statistics are proportionally better than Lewis's considering the playing time for each, Lewis in nine years younger.
- EXPENDABLE
This wraps up my take on the Chiefs free agents. Hopefully, we will be seeing a lot of these guys back next season. If not, then a thanks goes out to each and every one of these free agents for their part in bringing a division championship to Kansas City. It's a team sport, and all these players contributed in some way.
Let McGraw go. I love the guy, but we need more speed back in the secondary. Our 3-4 is modeled after the Patriots 3-4, which means you need a left and a right safety, not necessarily a FS and a SS. This is done to create a level of symmetry on the field, making it so neither side has a weakness. Eric Berry is perfect for this. He can cover like a FS, but play in the box like a SS. Think Merriweather and Chung on the Pats right now. If we could find a guy like him (Berry) on the other side (Kendrick Lewis might develop into this role) our secondary would be set. We'd have the Brandon's at CB, Arenas playing the nickle, and two deadly safeties.
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