The Other Ball-Hawking Drafted Bears Safety

The Bears took safety Jaquan Brisker in Round 2 and see big things for him but later selected Cal safety Elijah Hicks in Round 7 as a possible project at a position he has played only one year.

A little over a decade ago the Bears drafted a California cornerback who had become a safety.

That third-round pick didn't quite work out as envisioned, and after giving up the touchdown pass to Green Bay to Bears playoff chances in the 2013 regular-season finale Chris Conte eventually left for other environs.

Now they've drafted another California cornerback/safety but in this case seventh-round pick Elijah Hicks doesn't need to come in and start immediately because they also drafted Jaquan Brisker. He'll have time to develop and needs to after just a year at the position.

"It was really one of those things where one of our safeties went down during bowl season and they were like, look we're thin at numbers," Hicks said. "I was starting at corner. I did three seasons at corner. They said, 'We're thin at safety; could you learn it and potentially be an emergency safety if we need it to happen in a game?'

"I'm like, 'For sure, coach; whatever you need me to do I'm gonna do.' That's just the type of guy I am."

It's the kind of attitude the Bears want to hear from their players, so they'll take this Cal Bear and try to fit him into the mix with other backups in the secondary. It's most likely going to be as an extra safety because that's where he finished his college career. This is fine with Hicks.

He found at Cal he might be better suited to safety.

"Because at Cal we've had really good safeties come through there," Hicks said. "They teach really good defense. The safety like controls the defense. THey are the ones making calls and giving tags. So it's a big responsibility.

"So I'm physically able to do it and mentally I was able to do it. This season I had made a lot of, what, seven forced turnovers in 12 games or whatever? I was really productive, making plays all over the field. It was a natural fit."

Hicks may have found a niche at safety as a ballhawk because he did force four fumbles and picked off three passes in his final year, after playing extensively at cornerback through three full seasons and a partial during the pandemic. He made only two interceptions and two forced fumbles for those 3 1/2 seasons before switching

The idea of this new Bears defensive scheme is to create turnovers, interceptions or fumbles with the zone emphasis.

"I'm always around the ball," Hicks said. "I'm hungry. See ball. Get ball. Whether it was out of the post, making plays sideline to sideline, getting interceptions—or, rather, that was punching the ball out, stripping the ball."

It's not that Hicks feels his coverage at cornerback was bad.

"At corner I was more a press man guy, locked up in your face," he said "That's an island. At safety I was able to be around the field, closer to the ball a lot more."

Hicks is bringing in another skill set any NFL team wants. He'll play all four phases of special teams if asked.

"Oh, I'm a goer, all four phases," he said. "It doesn't matter if I'm running down and make a tackle, ain't nobody going to block me, I'm going to go down and make the play.

"Whether it's a kick return, I got sweet feet so I'm going to stay in front of everybody and block if I have to so we can take it to the crib."

The Bears has a top-30 visit with him at Halas Hall and both came away impressed. They did draft Jaquan Brisker in Round 2 and see him as a starting safety alongside Eddie Jackson this season, but Hicks saw in college how rapidly things can change in the sport with injuries. 

It can't hurt to have another young safety ready to go.

"It's his cover skillset, being from both positions, you can see him doing a lot for you," coach Matt Eberflus said. "You know, you can match him up on certain players, he can play the deep part of the field, he's got great range in the deep part of the field. He's a physical player. So we were really excited to get him at the spot that we got him. We were elated. So he's got a bright future ahead of him."

Hicks loved the visit with the Bears staff because they talked football for a long time and he was at easy at Halas Hall with all of them. He also liked what they had to say about building a defense based on takeaways.

"I love that because as a defense, the ball is the issue," he said. "Turnovers and turnover margin is what wins games.

"So getting the ball and forcing turnovers is what we are trying to do, that's what I'm trying to do. Always find ways to get the ball."

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