With Chiefs’ Eric Berry back, his replacement at safety is back to being his partner
Among all of the best-laid plans of the Chiefs’ coaching staff and front office, there surely wasn’t any prominent scenario going into last season that featured Daniel Sorensen as the team’s leading tackler.
There’s a strong case that the Chiefs’ season took an abrupt turn, especially on defense, as soon as five-time Pro Bowl safety Eric Berry went down with an ruptured Achilles in the season opener against New England. However, there’s no denying that Sorensen’s role completely changed with Berry’s injury.
This season, it will change again, but in a different way, as Sorensen appears the frontrunner in training camp to start at the safety spot opposite Berry.
“There’s really no strong safety or free safety anymore in today’s football — you’ve got to play both,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “He’ll also jump in and play in dime situations and inside nickel situations. There’s flexibility with him, and he’s a good special teams player. He’s come a long way. He’s improved every year. He’s still got work to do, but he’s dependable.”
An undrafted free agent who shares an alma mater with Reid (BYU) and who clawed his way up to the 53-man roster after having been waived by the team and spending the first six weeks of the 2014 season on the practice squad, Sorensen’s primary tasks going into last season were to play special teams, contribute in the dime defensive packages and back up the safety tandem of Ron Parker and Berry.
By week three last season, Sorensen had started twice as many games in 2017 as he had in his previous three NFL seasons (one). He finished the season as the team’s leader in tackles (88) in 15 regular-season games. He also defended six passes, recorded one interception and had 1 1/2 sacks.
“He didn’t come in with a lot of hoopla,” Reid said. “He came in from the right school, and he’s just gotten better every year.”
The Chiefs cut Parker in March, which meant Sorensen, a 28-year-old from Colton, Calif., entered a summer for the first time knowing that he’d be counted on significantly on an every-down basis.
It was also the first time in his career he had a season’s worth of video of himself starting NFL games to analyze. That meant critiquing stance, alignment, hand placement, recognition of formations and anything else he felt he could improve upon.
“I had an offseason to prepare to play that position, whereas last year I was more focused on what my role was going to be,” Sorensen said. “I’ve had a whole year to think about it, prepare for it both physically and mentally.”
As for how Berry’s return may change Sorensen’s role, Reid called the relationship between the two “tremendous.” Sorensen made several references to Berry’s experience and knowledge being a boost for the entire defense, himself included.
Sorensen still leans on Berry for advice and goes to him with questions.
“Honestly, as far as my role goes, I don’t know if it’ll change much just having him back,” Sorensen said. “We play right and left, but just having him back there is going to elevate everybody and bring more confidence to the whole defense.”
This story was originally published August 3, 2018 at 6:13 AM.