5. He began his career as a safety before moving to linebacker.
Bassa began his football career as a defensive back, and it shows on his tape when it comes to coverage. Here’s more from Dane Brugler’s draft guide:
“A former safety, he looks natural turning and running down the field in coverage.”
In a similar vein, Pro Football Focus added the following:
“A vocal leader at Oregon, he could be a nice coverage linebacker in any scheme.”
Bassa also discussed the position change, which he initially accepted just to help the team, during his post-draft call with reporters on Saturday:
“I was a safety coming out of high school, and my first year at Oregon, I was behind two seniors at the time. It was Week 2, we were about to go play Ohio State, and my defensive backs coach told me that they had some injuries in the linebacker room,” Bassa explained. “I was the biggest safety in the room, so they moved me to linebacker. I took that opportunity and ran with it.”
The move ended up being a great one for Bassa, and now all these years later, he’s headed to Kansas City to join the Chiefs.
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