Back in April, the Chicago Bears made Kyler Gordon the highest-paid slot corner in the NFL with a three-year, $40 million contract extension ($31.25 million guaranteed). Before that, the first-ever draft pick by general manager Ryan Poles was singled out by then-brand new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen.
"Kyler Gordon, I think, is an outstanding nickel player," Allen said in January, per ESPN's Courtney Cronin. "I have a vision for how we can utilize him. I think the foundation for what we want to do is there, and then I'm just excited about finally getting these guys in here and us having the opportunity to work with him and see exactly what we have."
Allen's vision for Gordon has come to light during Bears' training camp. Largely pigeonholed as a slot corner over the last two seasons (26 total snaps as a wide corner; including just four last year), Gordon is seeing work on the outside in a wide open battle for the spot opposite Jaylen Johnson. But as an effective blitzer, a good edge setter in the run game, etc. Gordon is lined up to be a significant chess piece for Allen.
Fantasy analyst fully unveils Kyler Gordon's potential in Dennis Allen's defense
Jonathon Macri of Pro Football Focus has outlined a dark horse candidate to finish as the top fantasy scorer at each defensive position in 2025. Gordon was his choice at cornerback.
"The darkhorse CB1 who checks the most boxes (alongside the honorable mention) is Gordon, who may take on a very similar role as last year’s CB1 Alontae Taylor in Chicago’s new defense. This will be a defense run by Dennis Allen, who got a lot of IDP production out of his cornerbacks with the New Orleans Saints last year, including Taylor, Ugo Amadi and Paulson Adebo. Gordon now has the opportunity to step in and serve as an amalgamation of all those 2024 Saints CBs, as he’ll spend the majority of his snaps working out of the slot with the opportunity to play on the outside in non-nickel formations if Chicago continues to phase Tyrique Stevenson out of the defense, like last year."
"Gordon will get ample opportunity to rush the passer as well from his slot position, as evidenced by Taylor and Amadi getting a handful of blitz attempts per game last year in that role, which allowed for multiple sacks and added to that big-play potential. Gordon has a chance to thrive in this role for Allen, and getting a boost in overall snap share should absolutely allow him to outperform his current value and push for that overall CB1 potential."
Gordon is a better player than any cornerback Allen had in New Orleans last year, including Taylor, who, as Macri noted, was the CB1 in fantasy last year with 89 total tackles, four sacks, two forced fumbles, and 16 pass breakups. While Gordon posted a top-15 overall PFF grade last year, backed by a top-15 coverage grade and a top-30 run defense grade, Taylor came in dead last in overall PFF grade and coverage grade among 116 qualifying cornerbacks.
Credit to Allen for putting Taylor in a position to succeed as a run defender (82.1 PFF grade) and blitzer (70.1 pass rush grade) last year, but Gordon is a far more complete cornerback.
In charting Gordon's path to being the top-scoring fantasy cornerback this year, Macri had four categories: High-end target rate, High-end slot snap rate, Potential 90-plus percent defensive snap share and Above average tackles vs. expected rating.
The only box Gordon didn't affirmatively check for Macri was 90-plus percent snap share, landing in the "borderline" category, but if he's healthy for all 17 games, his role in Allen's defense could get him there.
Read more: Buzz-worthy expanded role for DJ Moore could be supplemental gold in fantasy
In the fantasy realm or otherwise, Gordon is lined up for a full fledged star-making turn this year.