You are never supposed to grade a draft class until a year or two down the road. So, while we have been tracking the Chicago Bears rookies to see progression, this ten-week mark is also a good time to look back at the second-year players and see how the first Ryan Poles draft class looks after 27 games in the NFL.
Chicago Bears Round 2: Kyler Gordon
Things were looking grim for Kyler Gordon at first. He had an awful rookie season and followed it up by breaking his hand in week one. After 22 weeks of NFL play, we had no idea if Kyler Gordon would even be a good NFL player.
However, his last five weeks have proven a lot. First, he has stayed in the slot primarily. Last year, he played about 65.9% of his snaps in the slot. This year, it is up to 94.8%. Talk about a role change.
Not asking him to do both has made him much better. First, he has improved as a run defender and made more impact tackles near the line. He blitzed on 2.7% of his snaps in 2022, 23 snaps overall. With seven games to go and missing four games, Gordon has 24 pass rush attempts and is blitzing 8.4% of the time.
He is able to play more zone coverage and break quickly on crossing routes in the slot as well. Everything suits him better. It is easy to say that it is a small sample, but Adam Thielen, Keenan Allen, Chris Olave, and Hunter Renfrow all ran plenty of routes against Gordon, and Gordon has been a lot better in coverage.
We need to see a little bit more to wash away all of the bad thoughts of the year prior, but he has written a new story this year.
Kyler Gordon Grade: B+
Chicago Bears Round 2: Jaquan Brisker
For all of the positive growth from Kylelr Gordon, we have seen a lot of negative regression from Jaquan Brisker. His rookie season was much better than what he is doing right now.
To start, injuries have impacted him. He had to leave four games in the first five weeks with different issues. Then, he missed weeks eight and nine. All of the while, he has hardly been practicing since the summer.
Brisker has had issues since. He missed a tackle and gave up a 45-yard reception to Michael Strachan in week 10, his first game back. He had a few bad tackling reps against Las Vegas and had big gains allowed to TJ Hockenson, Antonio Gibson, and Samaje Perine when he was on the field.
The missed tackles have popped up recently, but the blown coverage assignments have lingered all year. PFF grades are not everything, but they have him at 57.9 grade, which is down from 67. Also, he is down from 65 in coverage to 49.3. That is about right, as his coverage is dragging his overall play down.
Jaquan Brisker Grade: D+
Chicago Bears Round 3: Velus Jones
Velus Jones has been a complete bust for the Chicago Bears. After playing 158 snaps in 2022, he is down to 40 snaps this year. He was inactive in week 10, and with Equanimeous St. Brown and Khalil Herbert back, it is hard to find a reason for him to be active for the rest of the season.
Jones had a role due to special teams, but St. Brown can take his spot covering kicks while Khalil Herbert can return kicks. Tyler Scott was returning kicks, but Herbert is a bit more dynamic and has more experience. Beyond that, there are so few returns it hardly matters.
More than that, Tyler Scott is a better wide receiver and can take a lot of the handoffs and end-around that gave Jones any sort of purpose on offense.
This was a major whiff by Ryan Poles. It was hard to accept Jones when the team drafted him, especially because his biggest draw was special teams. Now that they have replaced him on special teams, this third-round pick is done after two seasons.
Velus Jones Grade: F-
Chicago Bears Round 5: Braxton Jones
In a year where the Chicago Bears needed to find clarity on Braxton Jones, it is looking like they now have seven games to find that. Jones started the year off slow, like most of the team. Honestly, he played well on a per-snap rate but had an ugly loss to Joe Tryon-Shoyinka in week two and had five penalties in two games. Then, he went on the IR for six weeks with a neck injury.
He returned against the New Orleans Saints, and it was rocky. He committed two more penalties and was up and down in all areas. To be fair, it was his first game back; it was in the dome, and raucous crowd of New Orleans, and the Bears insisted on subbing him out for a few series at a time, making it hard to find his groove.
In week 10, he was much better. To his credit, he turned around on a short week and looks ready to go for the rest of the year. It was his cleanest game on the resume. On the other side, he was a lot of Eku Leota and DJ Johnson because of the injuries to the Panthers. That was not the best competition to gauge his level of play.
Still, just watching Larry Borom for six weeks makes you appreciate an average left tackle, even if that is all that Jones is.
Braxton Jones Grade: C+
Chicago Bears Round 5: Dominique Robinson
Dominique Robinson has been one of the worst edge rushers in the NFL for two straight years. Last year, he had a 5.3% pass rush win rate, which was one of the worst rates in the NFL. The thought was that he is a rookie and was a project, and it could only get better from there. His pass rush win rate this year was 2%. He got worse and is now officially the worst rusher. That does not mention that he jumps at everything in the run game and is not gap-sound.
The Bears gave him until week seven. In week eight, Khalil Kareem got a helmet over him. In weeks nine and ten it was obviously Montez Sweat. With Sweat in the mix, his season may be over. To be fair, this is for the best for Robinson, who was on the field way before he should have been. Taking time to step back and watch while developing may give him a chance to come back next summer to compete for a roster spot.
Dominique Robinson Grade: F
Chicago Bears Round 5: Zach Thomas
Zach Thomas was signed by the Rams off of the Bears' practice squad. He played five snaps in week two and 39 snaps in week three. He has not played for them since.
Zach Thomas Grade: F
Chicago Bears Round 6: Trestan Ebner
Trestan Ebner is currently a free agent. It is pretty telling that the Chicago Bears decided to sign Darrynton Evans from the Miami Dolphins practice squad instead of calling Ebner, who is currently still a free agent.
Evans was better than Ebner last year, and you probably won't hear about Ebner anymore.
Trestan Ebner: F
Chicago Bears Round 6: Doug Kramer
Doug Kramer could not make it to the regular season without needing to get placed on the IR. Both of his seasons had him injured in the preseason and struggling to make an impact. The Chicago Bears released Kramer, who signed with the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals just waived him.
Doug Kramer grade: F
Chicago Bears Round 7: Ja’Tyre Carter
Ja’Tyre Carter has played a surprising amount. He started in week 18 last year just to get a look and made the roster after a strong preseason. Still, injuries to Teven Jenkins, Lucas Patrick, and Nate Davis had them scrambling, and they turned to Carter.
Carter started two games and has filled in for three games. Against Minnesota, he came off the bench and played 56 snaps. Overall, he has 175 snaps, with 159 at right guard, 11 at left guard, and five at right tackle.
He has primarily struggled. He had moments against the Vikings, but his starts against Tampa Bay and Kansas City held the offense back. Those are tough fronts, but it is hard to see a future beyond depth, and he may not even be reliable there without a step forward next year.
For a seventh-round pick, getting two starts is close to a win, though.
Ja’Tyre Carter Grade: C-
Chicago Bears Round 7: Elijah Hicks
Elijah Hicks has had to play a lot as well. Eddie Jackson and Jaquan Brisker have missed serious time. It has caused Hicks to get 479 defensive snaps over six starts and nine in-game appearances on defense. Between missed coverage assignments and missed tackles, he has been the weakest point of the Bears defense.
With Jaquan Brisker and Eddie Jackson healthy, he sat for the first time since week one. He has been a relied-on asset on special teams, and that continued on Thursday against Carolina.
All things considered, he did about what you would expect a seventh-rounder to do in his first time getting actual work. The best case for Hicks would be a career like DeAndre Houston-Carson, where he gets on the field minimally in dime roles but then has a long career due to special teams.
Elijah Hicks Grade: C+
Chicago Bears Round 7: Trenton Gill
Trenton Gill has not been very good this year. Still, a seventh round pick for a punter can bring that type of success. Sticking for two years is fine, but he needs to improve.
Trenton Gill Grade: C-