A Defensive Back Question for Each Team

Carolina Panthers free safety Mike Mitchell (21). Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Can Dre Kirkpatrick burst out?

The Cincinnati Bengals secondary is easily one of the deepest in the NFL, and the same can probably be said about their roster as a whole. George Iloka and Reggie Nelson work extraordinarily well together, forming one of the league’s top ten safety tandems, and there’s also no doubt that Leon Hall is a phenomenal player at corner. Young CBs Dre Kirkpatrick and Darqueze Dennard will eventually be asked to replace the old guard of Terence Newman and Adam Jones, and the 2014 season will be a big one for Kirkpatrick, who has as much upside as anyone. If he can play to his potential, then the Bengals secondary could jump into that “elite” category; they’re already close.

Will Matt Elam achieve the expected?

At this point, I think most people who follow the Baltimore Ravens at least somewhat closely expect a strong year from second-year pro Matt Elam, who played out of position as a rookie first-round pick in order to accommodate veteran strong safety James Ihedigbo. While Elam was still OK as a free safety, his skill-set is best served as an SS who can play solid run D, make plays on the ball, take care of underneath routes, and match up with pass-catchers in man coverage as needed. Elam has the all-around skill-set that could make him an impact player at safety on the Ravens defense, and he’s a much less limited strong safety than Ihedigbo was. It’s too much to ask sleeper rookie Terrence Brooks to start and succeed as a rookie FS, but it’s well within reason to expect Elam to emerge as one of the league’s better starting safeties.

Can Mike Mitchell keep it up?

There are some who wonder if Mike Mitchell’s breakout 2013 season for the Carolina Panthers was a fluke, and I think it’s fair to show some skepticism towards Mitchell, who benefited from the league’s most dominant front seven while in Carolina. That said, he did a solid job as the Panthers starting FS, as he was thrown into the fire when Charles Godfrey went down with a season-ending injury. He immediately established himself as a quality player and a team leader, with the latter being important given Godfrey’s status as a leader on the team. Mitchell parlayed his 2013 season into a contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers as Ryan Clark‘s replacement at FS, and it would be embarrassing for him to play worse than Clark did last year. He’s a better fit as an SS  than an FS, but I don’t think he’ll embarrass himself, and he should prove to be at least an adequate starter next to Troy Polamalu, who is still one of the best in the business.

Can Justin Gilbert make an immediate impact?

The Cleveland Browns have one of the top five safety duos in the league, and they will hope that their cornerback duo can reach those heights in a few years. Justin Gilbert is one of the finest playmakers in the 2014 NFL Draft class, and his speed and ball skills made him the first cornerback selected over other prime talents like Jason Verrett, Kyle Fuller, and Dennard. Gilbert’s run defense, however, is deplorable, and his work-in-progress technique could cause him to have a disappointing rookie year before taking off later. Blessed with incredible athleticism and Patrick Peterson-esque tools, a big rookie year from Gilbert would give the Browns a lockdown tandem with Joe Haden in front of that aforementioned safety duo.