4 reasons Chicago Bears signing Kevin Byrard is an upgrade from Eddie Jackson

2. Kevin Byard has made more plays than Eddie Jackson

One of the big notes on Eddie Jackson is that he can create turnovers, but misses tackles. For his career, he has a 14.5% missed tackle rate, per PFF. That number was 11.3% in 2021 but jumped to 12.8%, and 15.6% in the past two years. This has been an issue, and it is not going away. 

On the flip side, Kevin Byard has a career missed tackle rate of 6.8%. Last year, it was 5.9%, and the year prior it was 4.7%. On top of this, Byard has more tackle attempts. Needless to say, he is a much better tackler. 

Jackson is supposed to offset this with the big plays, but they are not coming at the same rate as when he earned his contract. Jackson has five interceptions over the past three years, while Byard has 10. It would be one thing if it were close, but essentially Byard has half of the tackle rate, and double the turnovers compared to Jackson in recent years. Is there really a debate as to which safety is better right now?