This Chicago Bears defender is earning more respect

When the Chicago Bears drafted Kyler Gordon most fans thought for sure that Kindle Vildor would be out of the lineup. Vildor had a decent rookie season that led to him starting in year two and struggling mightily. So, with Gordon added along with Tavon Young, many thought that the coaching staff was out.

Kindle Vildor is earning the respect of Chicago Bears fans

An injury to Young made things easier, but Gordon is more of a slot player and also allowed Vildor to get more work with the first team. From there, he won the coaches over as one of the few players from the past regime that won a starting job over a player that the staff brought in.

After five games this season it is looking like the bet on Vildor has paid off. According to PFF, his coverage grade is 62.4, which is up from 45.6 last season and 45.9 the season prior. He is allowing a passer rating of 81.3 this year compared to 136.6 last season. He is clearly playing his best football.

With Jaylon Johnson out the past three weeks, the team has asked Vildor to be their top dog on the outside. He spent a lot of the Texans game against Brandin Cooks and wound up shutting him down. Vildor broke up a pass in the end zone that went into the hands of Eddie Jackson for a pick.

Then, on Sunday he recorded the first pick of his career. On the first drive of the game, the Vikings put Justin Jefferson on Jaylon Jones as much as possible. After that, the Chicago Bears asked Kindle Vildor to follow Jefferson around.

The team moved Jefferson around a ton, and Vildor does not play in the slot, so he could not face him all day. In fact, the biggest catch that Vildor allowed was when they asked him to move into the slot.

Still, when he was on the outside he followed Jefferson from side to side, and he contained him after the insane first quarter.

Vildor has been asked to follow top wide receivers. He played extremely well against Brandin Cooks, he broke up a pass that led to a pick and picked off a pass himself. It is safe to say that the past three weeks have been the best three weeks in the career of Kindle Vildor.

When the Chicago bears take on Washington the team will feel safe having Johnson on one side and Vildor on the other against Terry McLaurin. This is a long way from where he was last season.