Did Jaquan Brisker hit rookie season expectations with Chicago Bears?

Last year at this time, right after the NFL draft we looked at recent second-round picks at safety to set a baseline of expectations for the Chicago Bears second-round pick Jaquan Brisker. Now that his rookie season is done, it will be interesting to see how he performed in comparison. Was Brisker as good as some of the top comparable safeties?

Did Jaquan Brisker hit rookie season expectations with Chicago Bears?

The names that we went on to highlight were Landon Collins, Jonathan Cyprien, Jevon Holland, Taylor Rapp, and Jaquarski Tarrtt. On average they finished their rookie season with 66 solo tackles, 23 assists, 89 total, 2.8 QB hits, 5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, and 1 interception. He would need to hit similar markers be on the same trajectory as those names.

Chicago Bears fans probably know that he was better than advertised, and the stats do show that he was much better than any of those rookies statistically. He had 73 solos with 31 assists, to add up to 104 combined, so he was ahead in all areas. Beyond that, he had four quarterback hits, five tackles for loss, four sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception.

A lot of those stats were right on track, but the reality is that he smashed expectations in most areas and the ones that he did not were tied. There wasn't a level of stats to show Jaquan Brisker behind anybody.

As the Chicago Bears start to build their secondary moving forward it is clear that Brisker will not only be a piece of that group, he is going to be a leader moving forward. Jevon Holland and Landon Collins spent time being discussed with the best safeties in the NFL and Brisker had a more productive rookie season than they did.

The Chicago Bears pass rush may get better, and if Brisker himself continues to take a step, we may start to think about him as an All-Pro strong safety candidate during some of his prime NFL seasons.