The 90 to 1 Green Bay Packers roster countdown: No. 9 – Adrian Amos

Can "Smash" make a splash as one of the NFL's highest-paid safeties?

The Green Bay Packers, and their 90 players on the roster, are in the midst of their first training camp under coach Matt LaFleur. In an annual tradition from my 11 years at Packer Report, I rank the players in order of importance from No. 90 to No. 1. This isn’t just a listing of the team’s best players. Our rankings take into account talent, importance of the position, depth at the position, salary and draft history. More than the ranking, we hope you learn something about each player. (Note: The start of this series can be found with my former employer.)

No. 9: S Adrian Amos ($5,900,000 cap)

After last year’s disaster in which Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was traded at midseason, Jermaine Whitehead was released and Kentrell Brice imploded, general manager Brian Gutekunst made a splash by signing “Smash” Amos and moving up in the first round to select Darnell Savage.

Amos’ four-year, $36 million contract makes him the eighth-highest-paid safety in terms of total dollars and average salary.

Amos was the glue to a powerful Bears defense. Splash plays were few and far between, though, with just three interceptions in four seasons. By comparison, Clinton-Dix had three in seven games last season.

“When you say splash plays to me, from a secondary coach, those splash plays are when he gets guys down,” assistant coach Jason Simmons said. “That’s the thing. He gets guys down easily in the open field and in traffic and, to me, when you can get guys down and allow the defense to play another snap, those are splash plays, particularly when you get dynamic guys down, and he has the ability to do that. Now, interceptions and things like that, they haven’t come, but we all know interceptions can come in bunches. So splash plays, he makes really good plays as a safety, and his consistency is really what attracted me to him.”

The data from Pro Football Focus backs up that contention. Here’s what PFF’s Michael Renner wrote in March is labeling Amos as the “best value” in free agency: “The safety’s 12 combined picks and pass breakups over the past two seasons wouldn’t give the impression of an elite safety, but if I told you that he was downgraded at the third-lowest rate of any starting safety this past season and the seventh-lowest rate in 2017, that might change your mind. … His nine percent missed tackle rate (15 misses on 162 attempts) over that span is the 10th-best figure among safeties with at least 100 solo tackles over the last two years, while just 22 of his 73 targets in coverage have resulted in a first down or a touchdown. Amos’ 27 coverage stops are the fifth most in the NFL, and that’s with missing a good chunk of 2017 with injury. Those are rock-solid numbers that put him among some elite company in the NFL safety hierarchy.”

Said Amos: “I feel like that’s the biggest thing – everyone can count on me to do my job and be where I’m supposed to be when I’m supposed to be there.”

While Amos is an all-around safety, he’s at his best at the line of scrimmage. Savage’s speed and ball production is why Gutekunst made the former Maryland standout the first safety off the board in April. Together, the potential is there to become quite a tandem.

Other than Tramon Williams, nobody in the Packers’ secondary can match the 26-year-old Amos in terms of experience.

“Smash, that’s my guy. That’s my roommate over at the dorms,” cornerback Kevin King said. “We talk, and he’s a vet. He’s here for a reason. He got his payday for a reason. Day in and day out, he does it on the field. If you watch him, the way he takes angles to the ball, everything is game-like. You know that, when you watch him play, it’s like, ‘OK, he’s here for a reason.’ That doesn’t happen by luck. He works on his craft.”

While flashy Eddie Jackson got the accolades, Amos thrived in Chicago under esteemed coordinator Vic Fangio. Now, Amos is trying to bring the same style of play to Mike Pettine’s defense while being surrounded by young starters King (11 starts in two seasons), Jaire Alexander (11 starts in one season) and Savage (zero) in the secondary.

“It’s trying to be consistent every day but consistently progressing,” he said. “Don’t want to make the same mistake twice. If I’m not holding myself to that standard, I can’t expect to hold anybody else to it.”