FanPost

The Forgotten Five

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via media.kansascity.com



Ask any Chiefs fan, or especially any Chiefs fan who reads Arrowhead Pride, and they can list at least a couple of areas of concern this season. They might point to the apparent lack of a receiving target opposite Bowe since Tony G went bye bye. Or some might be concerned about the play of the O line, while others are deeply contemplating the up and down transition of Hali, McBride, Dorsey, and others. No doubt we have some things to iron out before we face the Ravens, but there is one area of the team that is quietly excelling, the Secondary.

Everyday I read Training Camp reports that have one common thread, stellar play from the DBs. Interceptions, pass deflections, blanket coverage, big hits. If I can point to a strength of this team, it has to be our secondary. In my mind, this is the deepest we have been at Cornerback and Safety since the Marty days.This may be the one position on the whole team that our 6th and 7th players get looks from other teams when we wittle down to 53. I believe we could see a few of the new additions such as Travis Daniels, last year's pick up Ricardo Colclough, super athlete Donald Washington, or solid Vet Mike Brown making good contributions to this team. Heck, we even have Irving Fryar's boy covering downfield. But the ones leading the charge are definitely Page, Pollard, Flowers, Carr, and Leggett. These five young players have far exceeded my expectations. They all have stepped up very early in their careers in the NFL, and look to be a great nucleus for the Chiefs for many years to come.

Jared Page, AKA Raider Killer, has got to be one of the most underrated Free Safeties in the NFL. He has struggled somewhat with injuries the last few years, but his absence from the lineup last year only accenuated his value to this group. He is huge for a Free Safety, but covers the field well and should be even more deadly in this year's defense.

Bernard Pollard impressed me last year with his rededication to his personal fitness and overall hard work. Although he sometimes looked lost out there, he was still learning on the job, and Pollard''s mistakes are generally of the aggressive nature, which I like. Bonecrusher can definitely be a playmaker, and the fact that Mike Brown has not already wrestled the starting gig away from Bernard says something about his early play in camp. I am rooting for Pollard as much as anyone.

Brandon Flowers could very well be a Pro Bowler this season. Dude can play. Don't let his somewhat diminutive frame fool you. I was always impressed with his willingness to come up and hit people and his impressive field awareness. He really understands how to play Corner. A++

Brandon Carr has the size to take on some of the bigger wide receivers in the league, and the game has never seemed too big for him. I sometimes question if he has the speed to be a shutdown kind of corner, but if speed were desire, he would run a 4.1 forty.

Mr. Pick 6 himself, Maurice Leggett, appears to have the Nickelback position locked up. One of the faster players on the squad, #31 has come a long way since last preseason, which says a lot to me about his IQ. I expect him to just keep getting better. I know a lot of guys are rooting for him.

Considering that most of us haven't been too worried about how our Secondary has been playing, I definitely think they deserve an early season shout out. While some will definitely argue that these guys are overrated because our run defense was so bad last season that they didn't get tested. Teams didn't have to pass much to beat the Chiefs. But I disagree, they did what was asked of them, kept us in a lot of games, and backed up a very porous run defense for most of the season. With the added competition and depth along the secondary this year, how could you not feel good about them? The NFL is increasingly becoming a pass friendly league. If these guys are our last line of defense, I think we have a pretty good one.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.