Everyone and their mother thought Chicago was going to take a receiver with at least one of their second round picks. The Bears and GM Ryan Poles elected to do their own thing. They snagged Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker at 39 and 48 respectively. Coach Eberflus is a defensive guy, and everyone knows it. He, as GM Ryan Poles has stated, “[has]to build an entire team.” For Coach “Flus,” that means getting started on the defense.
Coach Eberflus Has a Tall Task Ahead of Him
Coach Eberflus is taking over a team whose defense forced eight interceptions last season. The Bears also allowed 3,623 yards passing and a completion percentage of 65.8 percent. This percentage was 13th highest in the league. Therefore, the new regime decided to get some help for the defense. Brisker has been reported to be willing to play more of an “in the box” safety which will allow Eddie Jackson to do what he does best, and play free safety.
Touching on Gordon, he has made an instant impact reportedly at minicamps. This included making an amazing play on the ball to get an interception on Nathan Peterman. If he’s even partially as good as reported, I for one am excited to see him play aside from Jaylon Johnson.
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The Bears’ Secondary
We all saw how bad the secondary was last season. I get wanting help for Justin, but we have to be patient. Brisker and Gordon were not supposed to fall as far as they did, and Coach Flus and Ryan Poles have said they feel lucky to have gotten both. There’s still a battle to see who plays slot corner, but we have time. As Justin Fields said himself, the Bears aren’t ready to play right now. But once preseason rolls around they should be. But for right now, I believe these two are going to be great players.
Defensive Back Coach James Rowe is quoted as saying “I love both of them so far,” following up with “Right now they are leading the defense in takeaways. Kyler has made a lot of plays. Jaquan is already showing a great knack for punching the ball out. They are learning the system. They are coming in and making good plays, and we are excited about both of them right now.”
If the coaching staff and front office are excited about the two picks and players, the rest of us should be as well. Forcing turnovers was something the defense lacked last season, and by the sound of it, these two are forcing turnovers, and thats all we can ask from them.