Tyrann Mathieu, The Honey Badger

Brett Veach and the Chiefs' front office kicked off the 2019 offseason Monday with an unsuspected, but exciting signing. Soon to be 27 year old Tyrann Mathieu, AKA "The Honey Badger," will be a Kansas City Chief, agreeing to a 3 year, $42 million contract with $14 million guaranteed. It is especially interesting considering they had to outbid Houston for him, a city that Mathieu called his "second home." He signed a 1 year, $7 million deal to play there last offseason. KC did pursue him that spring, but ultimately did not have the cap space to match Houston's offer. It's obvious Veach wanted the former LSU Tiger and Heisman Finalist, and he proved it this offseason by offering a bigger per year salary than what the Texans put on the table, even though it sounds like their offer was longer term. There was no love lost from Houston though, as now former teammates and area media members used yesterday as a chance to praise and thank Mathieu for his short time there.

Statistics

According to Nate Taylor, Chiefs beat writer for The Athletic, Mathieu was KC's highest ranked free agent among available players due to the fact that he graded as an above-average defender in all categories. At 5'9" and 174 pounds, he has been the definition of versatile his entire career, but especially in 2018. Per PFF, Tyrann played over 300 snaps each at slot CB, free safety, and box safety. In fact, he registered at least one snap at each of the following positions during this past season: OLB (162 snaps), ILB (58), Outside CB (20), and even Defensive Tackle!! (4 snaps). Taylor reported that the Chiefs' plan is to have him be the deep safety, a position he hasn't exclusively played but is certainly capable. While that will be the plan, there is no doubt Mathieu will be all over the defensive backfield in Kansas City.

The Honey Badger has had a productive career according to the Pro Football Focus grading system. In 2013, his rookie year, he had an overall grade of 84.6, good enough to earn a 1st team All-Pro spot from PFF's perspective. For comparison, that grade would've ranked 6th among NFL safeties in 2018. His best year came in 2015, when he ranked as the #10 overall player in the NFL, according to PFF grades, with a 90.7 overall grade. He had a career high 5 INTs, 1 TD, 17 passes defended, and 11 tackles for loss. He was also 1st team All-Pro that season. He was so good in 2015 that he graded out as the best CB in the NFL with a 91.6 grade when in that position, even though he wasn't a full time CB. For 2018, Tyrann was the 21st overall safety per PFF, but posted a top 5 grade for his position in run defense. He was 7th among safeties with total snaps played, and 6th in pass coverage snaps. His 2018 season consisted of 2 INTs, 8 passes defended, 1 fumble recovery, a career high 3 sacks and 89 tackles, 5 tackles for loss and 4 QB hits. His grades would've been the highest among Chiefs' safeties in 2018 overall, in run defense, as a pass rusher, and in coverage. No matter how you spin the statistics, it's pretty obvious The Honey Badger will be an immediate upgrade to what KC has had at safety in recent seasons.

His injury history will obviously be talked about. He has been placed on the IR three separate times in his career, the latest coming towards the end of the 2016 season with a shoulder injury. While that justifies concern, he has started every game the past 2 seasons for the Cardinals and Texans, a trend Chiefs fans hope continues.

Corresponding Effects on the Roster

All the excitement for Mathieu comes with tough decisions that now need to be made. Ryan Scott Hall, co-host of the Amateur Hour Podcast (a must listen if you're a Chiefs fan) made a good point on Twitter about the current cap situation at the safety position.

20% of the salary cap invested in one position is rarely heard of, and not considered an efficient use of cap space. In my opinion, the first corresponding decision is easy: Cut Daniel Sorensen. He has been a good player in his role, but there's no reason to pay him that money. He is easily replaceable. The next move isn't as easy to make, although some Chiefs fans would disagree. It's time to cut Eric Berry, like this week. If KC wants to have as much cap space usable as possible, they'll need to designate Berry as a post June 1st cut by Friday, March 15, or $7.25 million of his contract will become guaranteed and not available for use to sign other free agents or draft picks. The thought of a healthy Berry and Tyrann Mathieu as a safety duo is very intriguing, and debatably the best pair at that position in the league, but it's nearly impossible to have confidence that EB will be ready for a full 2019 season after only playing in parts of 4 games the past 2 seasons. It will be a mournful day in Chiefs Kingdom if they do decide to part ways with their former All-Pro safety, but great teams don't invest money into players that can't get on the field. If the Chiefs want to be true contenders for the near future, they need to utilize the cap space Berry is taking up. If those two moves occur, expect Eric Murray, Jordan Lucas, and Armani Watts to fill out the rest of that position group, along with a potential draft pick in April. 

Now let's check out what The Honey Badger looks like on the field. 

2018 Film Analysis

The first thing that I notice when watching Mathieu's film is his tenacity and aggressiveness moving downhill for tackles. Flies at the pass catcher as soon as he recognizes that's where the ball is going, doesn't give the ball carrier a chance to avoid him. 

Even in the run game, he explodes down the ally and finishes tackles behind the line of scrimmage. 

His downhill speed is illustrated laterally as well, here when he's in coverage at deep safety. Reacts to the QB's eyes, locates the WR, and does his best to disrupt the catch. 

It's not just downhill where he shows how fast he is. His athleticism allows him to never be out of a play, using his speed to chase down ball carriers when he needs to. 

Don't let Tyrann's height and weight fool you. He plays bigger than his size. He'll put a shoulder into the stomach and attempt to bury a runner into the ground when he has the chance.

He doesn't have consistent tackling technique, and it can bite him in the ass at times, but you'll never have to question his hustle. 

Tyrann's natural instinct is on full display in his pass rush snaps. His feel for the timing of the snap, the intuition to know how to manipulate the LT's set, the subtle change of direction to mislead the RB on his blocking path, it all shows here. 

A lot of the same here. He disguises his intentions very well, which causes the RB to guess wrong on where he's coming from. 

His timing of the snap makes this whole play. If it's any slower or mistimed, the RT may have a chance to get in his way more. 

Shows good reps in man coverage. Trusts his athleticism and his ball skills to make plays on the pass. 

His small stature causes issues when covering bigger receivers at times though. He tries to make up for it with his natural aggressiveness, but sometimes the size difference is too much to overcome. Here he draws a holding penalty while covering 6'4" 250 pound David Njoku. This call could go either way, to be fair. 

Resorts to grabbing the jersey here while having a tough time covering TE Jordan Reed.

This wasn't a terrible hold, but too much hand activity draws the flag. 

Obviously, The Honey Badger isn't exactly the college aged Honey Badger. He's still a playmaker, but I imagine a 19 year old Tyrann turns this into a pick 6, or at least a big INT return. 

Then again, this is a pretty nice reaction and catch to create a turnover. 

Chiefs fans have every reason to be excited about this signing, especially when they remember watching the defense last year. The secondary lacked energy and passion. Turnovers weren't created as much as the past. At times, specifically against the Patriots, they were just bullied. Tyrann Mathieu can't turn a bad secondary into a good one by himself, but his leadership along with the new defensive scheme should be enough to take the performance from the defensive backs and turn it up a notch.