With the Colts searching for some sort of clarity at the safety position, Nick Cross, “showed up” in the preseason opener against the Denver Broncos.
Overall, the play from Cross in that game was a bit of a mixed bag–with some good and some not-so-good. However, according to defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, there was a distinct line between where Cross was able to find success and where he took his lumps.
In that game, Cross would spend time at both the free safety and strong safety positions. When playing deep, that is where Cross was able to stand out. But when playing closer to the line of scrimmage is where the negative plays took place.
“He played free safety and strong safety, and I thought free safety, just like you said, he showed up,” said Bradley on Tuesday. “His angles were better. He had a couple of racer tackles. His leverage was better. His vision of the quarterback. His plant and break back there was better. So that part was cool to see.”
Cross was in on four tackles in this game, one of which was made in the open field. For what it’s worth, he graded out well as a run defender and allowed only one reception on two targets, including a near interception that went down as a pass breakup.
Playing closer to the line of scrimmage with the Broncos near the end zone, Cross was credited with giving up a touchdown. As Bradley described, Cross needed to get a bit wider in order to put himself in a better position to make a play on the ball or the pass-catcher before he reached the goal line.
Bo Nix ➕6️⃣
The 12th overall pick finds Marvin Mims Jr. for the @Broncos first TD of preseason!
📺: #DENvsIND on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/8CTfxfIP7Y— NFL (@NFL) August 11, 2024
“So now at strong safety, you’re right, there was a couple plays right there that when you’re around the action like that–and I know for Nick, he knows he needs to make that play and knew he should have made the play. So at least there’s part of it.”
During training camp, the Colts have branched out their search at the safety position to not only include the free safety role but they’ve experimented with moving Julian Blackmon from strong safety to free safety in an effort to find the best configuration.
We know Blackmon will be starting–and given how well he played last season, the hope should be he can stay at strong safety–but who is running mate will be or even where Blackmon might line up is what they are working through.
With Cross’ play at free safety on Sunday, he perhaps gained a tighter hold on the starting role, having taken the majority of the starting reps there during training camp. However, Bradley also likes what he’s seen from Rodney Thomas as of late as well.
“Just like Rodney, they kind of in the last 10 days or so have put together some back-to-back-to-back practices to where it gives us–hey, they’re competing. They’re taking on this challenge and they’re getting better.”
With two joint practices and a preseason game upcoming over the next several days, the key for Cross will be building upon Sunday’s performance, so that it is more the norm rather than the outlier.
Bradley has said previously that the other 10 players trusting the free safety will be an important element when it comes to determining who will be the starter–and consistency builds trust.
