The Chicago Bears had a mixed bag of selections they made in the 2026 NFL Draft, but one pick that got fans' attention was their fourth-round selection of Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad.
Last season with the Longhorns, Muhammad racked up 30 tackles, four pass deflections, two interceptions, and one sack, earning him a second-team All-SEC selection. During his introductory press conference, Muhammad talked about being a guy who is all about playing like an old-school player.
"When it's time to put your nuts on the floor, you got to go dominate," Muhammad said via The Score's Chris Emma.
Bears fans are already loving the Malik Muhammad selection
That one sentence alone is easy to understand why Bears head coach Ben Johnson wanted general manager Ryan Poles to make the selection. Johnson is an old-school coach who likes to get in his players' faces and wants them to be a physical team.
Muhammad plays the same way on the field: while he may not get many tackles, he is a physical corner who doesn't allow many easy catches. He's a perfect scheme fit for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and what he wants to see out of his cornerbacks.
Having that kind of mindset is already setting him up for future success and might lead to some early playing time. Many believe that Muhammad is already positioning himself to compete with Tyrique Stevenson for the CB2 job entering training camp.
While some development is needed for Muhammad, he already has many of the skill sets that should put him in a position to play right away. It helps that this defensive coaching staff has had an up-and-down relationship with Stevenson, after Stevenson was benched at the end of the 2025 season.
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It didn't take long for Muhammad to get on the fans' good side, but if he keeps saying stuff like that and backs it up on the field, Bears fans will be ripping his jersey off of store shelves to buy.
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