Chicago Bears select Kyler Gordon No. 39 overall in 2022 NFL Draft

After a hectic first round of trades galore, the Chicago Bears stayed home at the No. 39 pick overall, the seventh pick of the second round.

Although seeing the New York Giants select Evan Neal with the Bears’ original No. 7 pick was tough, at the end of the day, the Bears have Justin Fields still. Sure, Evan Neal would’ve been a nice pick to protect Justin Fields, but … if that trade doesn’t happen, it’s not likely that the Chicago Bears would even have Fields.

The Chicago Bears select Kyler Gordon 39th overall

Now, heading into the second round, there were still some headliner names on the board. Nakobe Dean was one of the more highly talked-about prospects coming into the draft, however, the linebackers that went before him in the first round made sense. Linebackers in general just dropped due to the fire sale on receivers.

Now, Kyler Gordon adds a good fit for the defense. Whether this pick suits them completely is up in the air— especially with Andrew Booth Jr. still on the board— but for Ryan Poles’ first-ever draft pick as the Chicago Bears’ general manager, there are bigger things to get upset about. In all honesty, Kyler Gordon is a good corner, and the Bears should be happy to have him. The one question will be whether the Bears should’ve taken him or Andrew Booth Jr.

This pick might not have been the most flashy pick, but Gordon adds an immediate upgrade to the secondary. With leaders like Jaylon Johnson and Eddie Jackson, Kyler Gordon should learn a lot that will transfer their game from college to the NFL.

At Washington, Gordon put up 46 tackles, two for loss, two interceptions, and a team-high seven pass breakups in 12 starts his final season. That performance of his landed him a part of the first-team All-Pac-12 defense. As impressive as that was, there were some red flags, too. But, being a second-round pick, that’s somewhat obvious. If they were perfect, they likely wouldn’t make it out of the first round.

And in some evaluations, Gordon was seen as a possible first-round pick.

In NFL Draft history, there have been examples of players getting taken too early or too late, and this pick seems like the Middle Bear of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The value makes sense, and they fill a need for the Bears. All-in-all, a solid selection for Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears.