5 players who can make or break the Chicago Bears success in 2022

This Chicago Bears player could make or break the season: Kyler Gordon, CB

Reports out of camp on Kyler Gordon started off hot. Now, the rookie cornerback has not been participating at camp. I haven’t heard anything on the reasons why, but speculation is that it has to be injury-related. Some believe it’s a contract thing, but honestly, that doesn’t happen very often now that the NFL has installed a rookie-wage scale.

We saw what the secondary could do last year with only Jaylon Johnson on the outside. The likes of Kindle Vildor and Duke Shelley were just not good enough. I fully expect Gordon to be the starting outside corner if/when healthy. He has the tools to really help turn this defense around in the secondary. With Gordon and Johnson on the outside and either Tavon Young or Thomas Graham as the nickel back, the cornerback group could do a complete 180.

The one area that Jaylon Johnson has struggled is turnovers. Kyler Gordon looks to have better ballhawk skills and pairing the two should help with adding takeaways. If Gordon lives up to the offseason expectations, this defense is going to help the offense out more than many think. I’m already on record that I believe this team will have a top-10 defense. I’m not wavering from that prediction.