Chicago Bears: Ryan Pace may have found his starting strong safety

The Chicago Bears have found their starting safety. Ryan Pace brought in another strong safety on a one-year deal to play next to Eddie Jackson.

The Chicago Bears needed to bring in another safety after passing on one in the 2020 NFL Draft. Just like Ryan Pace did with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix’s contract, he signed Tashaun Gipson to a one-year deal. We are still waiting for the money, but it will not be a large number.

Now the Bears will have a true competition at the safety position across from Eddie Jackson. Currently, Deon Bush was slated to be the top option, but with the addition of Gipson, Bush is probably going to be pushed back to the third option.

Gipson is going to be 30 years old and is coming off a back injury that put him on injured reserve late last year. That said if Gipson is healthy the team found a solid starter to replace Clinton-Dix. The problem is, how healthy is Gipson? He signed a three-year contract worth $22 million dollars last year, but the Texans released him after just one season. Is his back still the problem? Hopefully, not, but hard to feel too confident about it right now.

Outside of the back injury, Gipson had a strong season for the Texans. During his 14 games, Gipson grabbed three interceptions and returned one for a touchdown. He also finished with 51 tackles (37 solos) on the year and eight pass deflections. Signing him definitely comes with some risks, but the upside is likely worth it.

Looking into some of his more advanced stats, Gipson had a strong season in 2019 playing mainly strong safety for the Texans. He was targeted 37 times but only allowed a 54.1 percent completion percentage. Gipson also only allowed one touchdown in 14 games for an opposing quarterback rating of 55.0.

Gipson will fit in nicely with this defense and should have no problem pushing Bush for the starting role as long as he is truly healthy. Personally, I would have preferred a healthy Tony Jefferson, but Jefferson has missed more games than Gipson. The upside of Jefferson is much higher than Gipson and I fear that although this is a solid signing, Jefferson could have been that much better.