Which cornerbacks on the Bears roster should figure into their future plans.
As we’ve churned through the Bears’ position groups searching for building blocks, we still have cornerbacks, wide receivers, and the offensive and defensive lines. We’ve looked at six groups so far, and we’ve only landed two building blocks to this point: Caleb Williams and Cole Kmet.
We turn our attention to cornerbacks, and this is an interesting group. This is arguably the most talented position group on the roster, so how many of them should the Bears lock down and build around?
As always, we remind you that, as building blocks go, we look at the following factors: age, contract, ability, position, and projection.
Josh Blackwell
Blackwell is just a fantastic role player. This is the type of guy that I hope the Chicago Bears can keep on the roster for the next three to five years. Blackwell is an excellent special-teams player and he can step in and play the Nickel position on defense if needed.
But let’s not mistake Blackwell for something he isn’t. His skills are solid for a backup corner, but they are not at the level they need to be for him to be a starting corner in this league, let alone a building block. Blackwell is a nice player who hopefully sticks around for a few years, but he isn’t anything beyond that.
No Block.
Kyler Gordon
Let’s start by looking at some of Gordon’s negatives. He’s yet to play a full 17-game season, and while he’s never missed significant time, you do have to worry about longevity and durability here. Gordon also needs to be more consistent in pass coverage. He certainly makes plays in the passing game, but he’s far too often 3 steps away from his man, which is why quarterbacks complete over 75% of their passes when Gordon is targeted.
But Gordon has unique athleticism and can come up to the line of scrimmage and make plays when the team needs them. He can get into the backfield and make significant game-altering plays as well, not too many corners are willing to play that physical.
Gordon needs to continue to improve; he’s not quite the player the Bears need him to be, but like we said, one of the factors we look at is projection. Gordon improved tremendously from 2022 to 2023, and while he didn’t improve as much last season, he did improve some, which was hard to do during the dumpster fire of a season that it was. I’d like to see Gordon get an extension and remain a part of the Bears’ secondary.
Block.
Terell Smith
This one is tricky. I like Terell Smith. I think he’s a nice player who has already shown he’s better than the 5th-round selection that he was in the NFL draft. He does a solid job covering the run on the outside, and his coverage stats are excellent for a backup and solid for a starter. Smith allows a 64% completion (roughly league average) and has only allowed 1 career TD in 64 career targets.
If the Bears move on from Tyrique Stevenson or move him to another position, perhaps safety, and allow Smith to play a full season at corner, we may see a player develop into a solid starting player, which would be warranted to give Smith a contract extension.
But that’s a major projection for a player that may not get opportunities because Stevenson is still parked in front of Smith on the depth chart. This was a tough one. I think you could project him to a building block, but I think it’s a bit too much of a projection for me. Smith comes up a bit short.
No Block.
Tyrique Stevenson
Speaking of the aforementioned Stevenson, this is a tough one. Stevenson has flashed piles of ability through his first two seasons in the league. He has an aggressive streak, he’s not afraid to get physical and sticky in coverage, and he’s certainly not afraid to hit ball carriers.
But then there’s everything else. Stevenson has a significant lack of maturity that has materialized on the field multiple times (plenty more than the Hail Mary debacle), he has mental lapses in the game, and his coverage ability on the back half of the 2024 season showed massive regression.
Stevenson has the talent to be a building block, but so many other factors work against him that I just have a hard time seeing the Chicago Bears consider this player a key part of their defense moving forward and someone they need to rely on every week.
If Stevenson grows up and fixes his focus on the football field, he could become one of the best man corners in the league, but for a player who has shown no growth in that department through two years, I just can’t project that will happen any time soon.
No Block.
Jaylon Johnson
Do we get to tip our cap to Ryan Pace, or is that not allowed? Johnson was an excellent selection by Ryan Pace, and he’s blossomed into an elite corner. Johnson’s 2023 season was one of the best turned in by a Bears corner, and it may have been the best in the league that year. His 2024 season wasn’t quite as good, but still showed plenty of reasons why Johnson should still be considered one of the best in the league.
Johnson is also a leader in the clubhouse and is the type of guy this defense needs to keep around as a leader in the locker room and on the field. Johnson fell in the draft due to some injury concerns and he missed a decent amount of games early in his career, but Johnson played all 17 games last season and has shown to this point that while he may not be an NFL iron man, he should be expected to play 13 to 17 games a season.
Johnson is entering his 6th season, but is still just 25 (he will turn 26 in a few weeks), so while many corners fall off a cliff, similarly to running backs around the age of 30, hopefully Johnson has quite a few strong years left, being he entered the league so young.
Block.
This was a tough room to examine. A softer grader may have considered naming four of these corners as building blocks, but truth be told, there are only three positions available, so that’s just not a reasonable position.
If Stevenson buckles down and blossoms under Dennis Allen, he could turn into a block for this team. If Allen chooses to give Smith more opportunities, he could as well. The situation at the spot opposite Jaylon Johnson is interesting and one to keep an eye on in training camp. But for now, we’ll keep both of them off the building block list and see how it shakes out in 2025.
But the corner room adds two more to the list, and the building block list now sits at four.