The Chicago Bears signed veteran cornerback Tavon Young to a deal recently. The move fills a huge need at the cornerback position for the team. Still, while Young has been an NFL starter, he could be a bit unknown to Bears fans. What will he bring to Chicago?
3. Upgrade over what Chicago Bears had
There is really no way to look at Tavon Young other than suggesting that he is an upgrade over what they had. On paper, Thomas Graham could play the slot but he played outside at Oregon, and last season most of his work came on the outside.
Duke Shelley started in the slot for most of the season and it is rather easy to look at the two and say that Tavon Young was better.
According to PFF Tavon Young allowed a catch every 9.1 snaps. That would rank him 14th among slot cornerbacks. Duke Shelley would allow a catch every 7.1 snaps, which ranked him 33rd in the NFL.
Teams were going after Shelley, and for good reason, as he was allowing 1.56 yards per snap, which was the 6th worst in the NFL amongst slot cornerbacks. Tavon Young was down at 1.21.
The big difference was that Shelley was allowing 8.9 yards after the catch while Young was allowing 8.3 yards after the catch.
Still, no matter how you look at it, teams targeted Tavon Young less, he gave up fewer receptions and fewer yards after the catch. This is an easy upgrade.
2. Tavon Young has serious injury questions
Fans may be wondering if Tavon Young is this big upgrade, then why would it take him so long to sign with a team. Why did he sign a cheap one-year deal with the Chicago Bears? The answer easily comes back to injuries.
Tavon Young broke out in 2016 as a rookie. It was arguably still the best year of his career. In 2017 Tavon Young tore his left ACL. He came back and finished the 2018 season, but 2019 was not kind to him. A neck injury ended his year before it ever started.
Young was back for two games after his neck injury when his left ACL tore for the second time. So, in 2016 Young put in a full season, then he played more than half of a year in 2018, and then 2021 was his first full season since his 2016 rookie campaign.
Young will be entering year seven and has two seasons of full health. Beyond that, you have noticed the small drop-offs in play since his 2016 body was in peak form.
It is concerning that Young tore the same ACL twice now, and you have to wonder and hope that leg can continue to hold up.
Still, it has to be recognized that Tavon Young is not a home run signing, and there is a reason he was able to land on a reasonable deal with the Chicago Bears.
1. Tavon Young is a slot cornerback but can play outside.
Tavon Young is a slot cornerback and will start in the slot for the Chicago Bears. Barring injury, there is not much hesitation in a camp battle.
However, Young played outside in college, and that is a part of his skill set. He even played a good portion outside as a rookie.
According to PFF Young played 632 snaps on the outside as a rookie, and 114 snaps in the slot. Again, that was his best season, which makes it worth noting.
Still, since then he has been almost purely a slot. He played 907 snaps in the slot and 189 snaps outside since then.
So, if you look at career numbers you see that Tavon Young spent 55% of his career snaps in the slot. However, he played 77% of his career outside snaps in just one season. That means that 83% of his snaps since 2016 have been in the slot.
It is nice for him to have that ability on the outside, and part of the reason he fell in the draft is that he was an outside cornerback who had to move into the slot in the NFL.
Still, Tavon Young is a slot cornerback. he excelled in the slot, and despite injuries still has enough juice to be a big upgrade for the Chicago Bears in the slot.