While some fans wanted a different position than safety, not many fans can complain about the talent that Jaquan Brisker will bring to the Chicago Bears. He was labeled as an NFL-ready player who should be fine to step into a lineup for week one. That is what added to his appeal.
Knowing this, what should the team expect from Jaquan Brisker?
Realistic expectations for Chicago Bears rookie Jaquan Brisker
Since 2011, 24 safeties have been drafted in the second round of the NFL draft. They are:
Trevon Moehrig, Landon Collins, Jessie Bates, Antoine Winfield, Marcus Maye, Juan Thornhill, Jon Cyprian, Marcus Williams, Jevon Holland, Justin Evans, Taylor Rapp, DJ Swearinger, Sean Davis, Jaquiski Tartt, Budda Baker, Grant Delpit, Rahim Moore, TJ Green, Tavon Wilson, Xavier McKinney, Marquise Blair, Jordan Richards, Obi Melifonwu, Richie Grant
Of course, some of those are free safeties, and some are strong. When looking at the box players, which is where Brisker will line up, the most similar players are Collins, Cyprien, Holland, Rapp, and Tartt. Below you can see how these players performed in their rookie seasons.
| Tack | Tack | Tack | Tack | Fumb | Fumb | Def | Def | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Year | G | Solo | Ast | QBHits | TFL | Sk | FF | FR | Int | Yds |
| 1 | Landon Collins | 2015 | 16 | 84 | 28 | 1 | 5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Johnathan Cyprien | 2013 | 15 | 86 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 27 |
| 3 | Jevon Holland | 2021 | 16 | 48 | 21 | 7 | 3 | 2.5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | Taylor Rapp | 2019 | 15 | 62 | 38 | 1 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 54 |
| 5 | Jaquiski Tartt | 2015 | 15 | 52 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 25 |
The first thing that Is easy to note is how often they were starting. Almost all of them started the entire season. Of the 24 safeties selected in round 14 started in more than half of their team’s games. The players who did not start in more than half of their rookie season games are
Budda Baker, Grant Delpit, Rahim Moore, TJ Green, Tavon Wilson, Xavier McKinney, Marquie Blair, Jordan Richards, Obi Melifonwu, and Richie Grant.
With the exception of Budda Baker, you can see a pretty clear correlation of the players who got on the field as rookies turning into successful starters, while the round two safeties who could not get on the field early did not ever pick things up. Even in the case of Baker, he played more snaps than he started because he played nickel so often.
If Briskser does not get to start half of the team’s games, there s a serious problem, but that should be expected by Bears fans. On average, players with a similar background to Brisker posted the following stat line:
66 solo tackles, 23 assists, 89 total, 2.8 QB hits, 5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, and 1 interception.
A full season as a starter with a stat-line similar to the one above should be expected. At the end of the season, we will get to look back at the rookie season of Jaquan Brisker and find out if he hit the goals set for him or not.