Chicago Bears Roster: Players under the most pressure heading into 2023
By Evan Bruner
Chicago Bears Under Pressure In 2023: Kyler Gordon, CB
To say Kyler Gordon’s rookie season got off to a rough start would be an understatement. He was picked on week in and week out, accumulating one of the worst coverage grades in football, and was a defensive liability.
But as the Bears' defense as a whole got worse after the team dealt Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith, Gordon got noticeably better. He was playing with more confidence and was making plays on the ball.
This mixed bag makes Gordon’s rookie season hard to judge. He definitely showed improvement, but his early-season play set a low bar. As a second-round pick and the very first selection of Ryan Poles’ tenure, there was already a lot of pressure on Gordon, and his up-and-down rookie season has only amplified that.
Jaylon Johnson has proven that he can be an outside cornerback and a good one at that. It’s been finding his counterpart that has proven to be a challenge for Chicago. Last year the Bears had such little depth at corner that Gordon had to play on the outside of necessity, but the selections of Tyrique Stevenson and Terrell Edmunds in last month’s draft give Matt Eberflus some flexibility.
2023 could prove to be a make-or-break- year for the Bears' corner. A stellar season would solidify his standing as the team’s No. 2 corner, while more inconsistency will likely lead to him being replaced.