Kyle Fuller to Safety?

[IotaNet]

I have read on this forum and others about the possibility of Fuller moving to Safety. I'm not a film guru or an armchair GM so I'd like to learn why people think that makes sense.

Anyone?

[UOK]

I feel like I've read "Fuller to safety?" on this board more than anywhere else on the internet. I feel like "Tillman to safety?" was the same way.

[Moriarty]

I have read on this forum and others about the possibility of Fuller moving to Safety. I'm not a film guru or an armchair GM so I'd like to learn why people think that makes sense.

Anyone?

• The Bears have been utterly desperate for a FS for 10 years now
• Fuller is big enough
• Fuller struggled a little with the new defense at the start of 2015, although I think it also gets overblown

Not saying it's the right move, but it is a legitimate consideration.
This is a good draft for S, so hopefully the issue gets closed that way.

[mmmc_35]

The reason people are like the idea is because his college tape was great in that roll. He also plays better facing the QB. However I don't think anyone expects it to happen.

[wab]

He played a weird safety/lb hybrid at VA Tech. Emery fell in love with his athleticism. I guess I always thought he was a better pure safety than a corner.

[malk]

It's got more legs than Tillman to safety which was never going to happen. I think Fuller plays some safety in his career but I don't know whether it will be for us.

Pretty frustrating looking back at this season, it would have been perfect to trial him at free with Amos at strong.

[Adipost]

I'm not ready to give up on Fuller at CB.

[video][/video]

[VA_Mountain_Bear]

If he can make the transition, he has some good skills that would make sense trying him out. As wab mentioned me has some experience at least. We need a better FS, and so why not give it a shot.

[malk]

Wherever he plays I think he's the best defensive back on our roster but after the comments by Fangio and Fox he's got an uphill battle get game time.

Hopefully he's ready and champing at the bit come pre season training and it's all water under the bridge.

[Wounded Bear]

I'm with Mori, I think he's not a bad corner at all. He's not spectacular by any means, but his side of the field is pretty quiet. With that said, I would probably move him to safety and try to draft more of a play maker at corner. I think Kyle would have more of a chance of being more 'spectacular' at that position than corner.

[wab]

Fuller has always had a pretty good nose for the ball, but he plays better and with more confidence if he's facing the QB rather than turning and running with WR's. That's why he was so successful in college and in his rookie season.

[G08]

Fuller has always had a pretty good nose for the ball, but he plays better and with more confidence if he's facing the QB rather than turning and running with WR's. That's why he was so successful in college and in his rookie season.

Yup, and for playing press technique it pisses me off just how many times he refuses to get his hands on and jam a WR. Doesn't look comfortable at all.

[wab]

Personally I'd sign a FA corner, move Fuller to FS, Amos to SS and upgrade 3 positions in the secondary all at once.

[Wounded Bear]

Personally I'd sign a FA corner, move Fuller to FS, Amos to SS and upgrade 3 positions in the secondary all at once.

That's exactly the way I see it.

[wab]

Fuller reminds me of other guys that were safety/corner hybrids in college and were sort of forced to play corner in the NFL to justify the draft pick because corner was considered an inherently more important position. Guys like Antrel Rolle, Malcolm Jenkins, Michael Griffin, Michael Huff, Cedric Griffin, etc...

All guys that were just "OK" at corner that went on to have long successful careers at Safety.

[wab]

And if moving Fuller to safety doesn't work, I think Porter could make that transition at this point in his career. He's lost a lot of speed but he's still got great instincts. He also slid over to FS at times during sub packages late in the season.

They just have a lot of young players in the defensive backfield. I feel like the Bears would be best served trying to develop the guys they have rather than adding more young guys.

Fuller, Amos, HJQ, Hall, Bush, DHC, Le'Blanc, Callahan, Glenn, Reynolds... they have invested some time, money, and draft picks in these guys already.

I really do think Fuller or Bush could develop into good a good FS.

[malk]

Amos, HJQ, LeBlanc and Callahan have all graded out OK in the time they've had. Fuller too. That's surprising since they were all thrown in together as rookies with no one but a broken Porter for vet help.

Free agency absolutely will bring at least one vet and likely two. If that's a corner and free safety then Fuller stays at corner but I'd also be happy with two corners and have him move to safety himself.

One of the few silver linings from last season is that some of the guys press ganged into starting action showed flashes and should now be decent depth options.

[alexwilkins]

Kyle Fuller is a much more physical corner than he gets credit for. He'll tackle anybody, and some people think that's all a safety does. Personally, I'd like to see Cre'Von move to FS, and put Bryce C. back at nickel.

[Boris13c]

if Fullers best position is in fact Safety, then by all means the team should move him there ... but the only thing to base this on right now is his college tapes, which show him as some hybrid linebacker/safety ... and he looks good on those tapes

what I really want to see is a coaching staff who knows or can properly assess where players will best fit, and then put them there so the team gets better ... other teams do it ... the Bears are just so iffy on these things ... like signing Jared Allen, a traditional 4-3 defensive end and thinking he can become an outside linebacker in a 3-4 by simply putting him there ... his failure was not that he could no longer play, but that he simply was not suited to playing linebacker ... and that is the coaching staff's fault

there are other examples than just him ... he is just the most recent high $$$ example of failed effort

and of course there is my lament from the day Fuller was drafted - if they needed a safety, why the hell didn't they draft the high end one that was right there waiting for them at the time? once again, the Packers find a way to make the Bears their bitch

[mmmc_35]

Fuller matched the scheme so well at the time.

The light grumbling about work ethic and love of the game are worries. Physically there is nothing to suggest he can't develop into a good corner in this system. However his natural instincts may make Safety his best position now.

[UOK]

I think he should go at corner until he proves he can't play it anymore. All of his problems are mental and confidence related. With confidence comes better technique, with better technique come results.

[Rusty Trombagent]

I think he should go at corner until he proves he can't play it anymore. All of his problems are mental and confidence related. With confidence comes better technique, with better technique come results.

yeah, there's a very real chance that we move kyle to safety and he reads it as "hey, you arent good enough to play corner." all signs sort of point to him needing to be coddled a bit at this stage of his development.

one of footballs greatest mysteries to me will always be how it's such a big slight to tell a corner to play safety.

[UOK]

I think he should go at corner until he proves he can't play it anymore. All of his problems are mental and confidence related. With confidence comes better technique, with better technique come results.

yeah, there's a very real chance that we move kyle to safety and he reads it as "hey, you arent good enough to play corner." all signs sort of point to him needing to be coddled a bit at this stage of his development.

one of footballs greatest mysteries to me will always be how it's such a big slight to tell a corner to play safety.

I think part of it is that the guy was drafted in the first round to play cornerback after a glorious high school and collegiate run as one of the nation's best elite cornerbacks. Now after 2 mediocre seasons and 1 season lost to ambiguous injury, we're suddenly contemplating moving a 24 year old to safety because obviously his cornerback career is a failure.

The odds of becoming an NFL player after a good high school run are 0.09%. The odds of becoming a 1st round pick are even less than that by far, so consider how your ego is affected by these triumphs in your athletic career, and then consider how it feels to hit a wall. For the first time in his life, Fuller's finding out maybe he's not good enough, maybe he's not going to be healthy enough. He's not able to trust his body, and that's leading to him not trusting his own decision making.

It worries me tremendously that Kevin White is going through the same thing. I don't know if he'll ever go 100% full energy in a game again because he can't trust his legs to take the contact.

Fuller's problem isn't so singular. He's basically got to remember why he loves to play the game and how he got to be one of the best in the first place.

[Boris13c]

I think he should go at corner until he proves he can't play it anymore. All of his problems are mental and confidence related. With confidence comes better technique, with better technique come results.

yeah, there's a very real chance that we move kyle to safety and he reads it as "hey, you arent good enough to play corner." all signs sort of point to him needing to be coddled a bit at this stage of his development.

one of footballs greatest mysteries to me will always be how it's such a big slight to tell a corner to play safety.

is Fuller really that mentally fragile where suggesting maybe he'd be better at another position will devastate him?

perhaps the NFL is not for him

[UOK]

is Fuller really that mentally fragile where suggesting maybe he'd be better at another position will devastate him?

perhaps the NFL is not for him

I don't think this is unique to Fuller, but I'd argue that moving a player to a different position is a lot easier when they are a late round pick who is simply happy to be in the NFL. Fuller was an elite player drafted with an elite pick to play an elite position.

[Boris13c]

is Fuller really that mentally fragile where suggesting maybe he'd be better at another position will devastate him?

perhaps the NFL is not for him

I don't think this is unique to Fuller, but I'd argue that moving a player to a different position is a lot easier when they are a late round pick who is simply happy to be in the NFL. Fuller was an elite player drafted with an elite pick to play an elite position.

but even in college he was moved around a bit and was successful ... I would think rather than it bothering him it should inspire him to show his versatility

and I saw him play a lot in college, which is why even though he wasn't the guy I wanted the Bears to draft at the time, I was not displeased they did so

I fully expected him to be much more than a question mark at this point

[ysleblanc]

I don't see the point of moving a 1st round pick AWAY from your biggest position of need.

Let Fuller have a strong off season and see what he can do at corner in preseason. At that point if a change is needed, THEN you make it.