Providing a closer look at what’s happening with Packers S Adrian Amos

Breaking down the usage of Packers S Adrian Amos through the first five games of 2020. Is Mike Pettine using him correctly?

So far this season, Adrian Amos hasn’t been the same player he was a year ago. Last season, Amos showed he was a great offseason addition, stepping up as a reliable safety in the run game and in coverage. However, his play has since tapered off.

Through the first five games, Amos has 17 tackles, one defended pass, and no tackles for loss. At this point last season, he was at 25 tackles, one defended pass, and one tackle for loss. Perhaps, Amos is just off to a slow start, however, stats don’t always tell the whole story.

For instance, where Amos is lining up has vastly changed in the last year. In 2019, he played 40 percent of his snaps at free safety, 35 percent in the box, and 10 percent in the slot, according to Pro Football Focus. This year, Amos is lining up 58 percent of the time at free safety, 24 percent in the box, and nine percent in the slot.

It’s unclear why Amos has found himself in a different role this year. After all, Green Bay’s secondary personnel hasn’t warranted any drastic shuffling. Chandon Sullivan sliding into Tramon William’s spot as the nickel corner is the only noteworthy alteration that comes to mind, but Sullivan has filled in rather seamlessly.

While the stats don’t necessarily point to a huge difference in Amos’ impact, the film does provide evidence of where he could be better utilized.

The first play we’re going to look at is from Week 2 of this season against the Detroit Lions. Here, Amos is caught flat-footed, and the result is a 24-yard touchdown.

When you have your safety playing deep a lot, you want him to be able to read the field well, take good angles to the ball, and at least have decent ball skills. Amos’ processing skills are fine, but his ball skills are just average.

On this play from 2019, Amos drops an absolute gimme of an interception. Luckily, Williams was in the right place at the right time to catch the pick.

Here is an example from the New Orleans Saint game from this year when Amos was playing deep but against the run.

He takes an aggressive angle at Alvin Kamara, slips, and then has to chase him down to prevent a touchdown. Amos is a good athlete compared to most safeties, but his speed and lateral quickness can be somewhat limiting when he’s asked to be the free safety. On this particular play, he gets himself into trouble trying to come downhill from center field.

However, there are examples from the Saints game of Amos being put in favorable spots on defense.

In the first part of the clip, Amos finds himself matched up on Taysom Hill. New Orleans is looking to get the ball in Hill’s hands fast by running a quick screen, but Amos is there to blow it up immediately.

In the second part, Amos is over the tight end. He quickly diagnoses the run call and is able to aggressively pursue Kamara, and because he is playing in tighter space and has less ground to cover, the Saints are limited to a minimal gain.

This next play is from last season against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Packers are in zone coverage, and Amos is hovering underneath. He quickly picks up on the play action and keys in on Irv Smith slipping from the backside of the formation. Amos plays it perfectly to stop the play for a loss.

Here are a couple more plays of Amos having a positive impact while playing in the box.

This doesn’t mean that Amos has to strictly become a box safety. There are instances where he has made plays from the deep safety position, but they happen more consistently when he plays closer to the ball.

Every great defense knows how to properly implement their personnel, but Mike Pettine appears to be dropping the ball when it comes to Amos. If he continues to play free safety on over half of his snaps this season, Green Bay isn’t going to get the same player they had in 2019.