10 most valuable returning Chicago Bears from 2021

Chicago Bears (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Chicago Bears (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
7 of 10
Chicago Bears, Jaylon Johnson
PITTSBURGH, PA – NOVEMBER 08: Jaylon Johnson #33 of the Chicago Bears in action on against the Pittsburgh Steelers on November 8, 2021 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

4. Jaylon Johnson

This season is huge for Jaylon Johnson. After his rookie season, many thought he was destined to be a star. The second season was an up and down and much more of a plateau than ascension into stardom. Still, the third season could be that now that he is in a new scheme.

He also has a strong partnership across from him in Kyler Gordon. Life could be getting easier for Johnson, but Matt Eberflus knows that Johnson has to work for it. The memo that Eberflus sent to Johnson early in OTAs is that he thinks Johnson can be elite, but he did not hit yet.

You can blame the scheme and the pieces around him, but at the same time, it is on him to tighten up any weakness he has to become an elite NFL cornerback. The new staff wants to pull that out of him, and he has shown flashes of it at times. If they can, the team has a young and hungry secondary that can be built upon for years to come.

Schedule