© Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
The Curious Case of Bears Cornerback Draft Interest
One of the lesser Bears positional needs appears to be cornerback, yet they've visited with a large number of them.
One curious development has surfaced in the top 30 visits the Bears are scheduling, at least among those reported to date.
Among those visiting players are an unusually large number of cornerbacks.
According to The Draft Network, their list of cornerbacks with top-30 visits includes Elijah Jones of Boston College, Cam Hart from Notre Dame and Auburn's Nehemiah Pritchett.
Aaron Leming of 247 Sports and SB Nation compiles a list each year with all known visits and this includes other places, like the combine, Senior Bowl and other all-star bowls, as well as local pro days and private workouts.
Others his list says they have shown interest in with meetings of various sorts include Missouri's Ennis Rakestraw Jr., Rutgers' Max Melton, Kentucky's Andru Phillips, Texas Tech's Rayshad Williams, Troy's Reddy Steward, Wake Forest's Caelan Carson and Mercer's Tavion McCarthy.
The total list had 10 cornerbacks on it as of April 5. The only positions with more players on it were edge rusher (11) and offensive line (16), but the offensive line includes all positions so that high number could be expected.
If you put together a ranking where the Bears appear most set for personnel as the offseason began, No. 1 on it would have been cornerback.
Their top four are high quality and provide versatility. Slot cornerback Kyler Gordon played outside occasionally in his first season before focusing solely on the slot. Jaylon Johnson just got paid like one of the league's best and is an All-Pro. Starter Tyrique Stevenson had a 93.7 passer rating against, a good mark for a rookie, and tied for the team lead with four interceptions. Backup Terell Smith started four games and had 377 defensive plays while allowing almost the same passer rating against (93.9) as Stevenson.
The Bears can go even deeper with Josh Blackwell and Jaylon Jones, players lacking draft pedigree but possessing two years worth of experience in spot duty.
So what's with all the cornerback interest when they obviously need edge rushers, a wide receiver and a 3-technique but have only four draft picks anyway?
The main reason for this is they value cornerbacks.
When the season ended and coach Matt Eberflus was asked about the team's needs, he included the position.
"You can never have enough pass rushers and enough corners," Eberflus said. "So we're just going to keep bringing them in."
Good teams have quality depth and this includes cornerback.
Montez Sweat's arrival last year often gets credited with making a defense that was strong against the run suddenly more formidable against the pass, because the improved pass rush helped force takeaways.
There was a third element to this improvement. The secondary finally became whole at about the same time.
Gordon had gone out injured after the first game and was out until Week 6. They also were without his backup slot cornerback, Josh Blackwell, at the time.
It wasn't just cornerback where injuries hit. Safety Eddie Jackson went out in Week 2 with a foot injury and didn't return until Week 6, then missed to more games in Weeks 7 and 8. And Jaquan Brisker missed two games at midseason with a concussion.
The secondary needs to be healthy and together on the field to keep and improve communication lines, particularly in a zone-based coverage like the Bears use.
They need as many talented secondary players as possible moving forward to make certain they can compensate for lost players with quality.
Then there is simply their due diligence, bringing in top players or local players who they might get in the distant future if cut or if they go on their second contract. The background supplied by a visit goes on their file.
None of this should be construed to mean they'll automatically look at a cornerback in the draft because their total number of draft picks is so limited. However, it's always possible they'll add a few later with a trade back and bring in another quality cornerback for cornerbacks coach/defensive passing game coordinator Jon Hoke to throw into the mix.
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