Bears Plug Three Holes with More to Go
It was an eclectic mix: a dancer, a hitter and a runner.
Make no mistake, the three players drafted Friday by the Bears in Rounds 2 and 3 of the 2022 NFL Draft will help.
"They're passionate about football, they're tough, they're team-oriented. They communicate really well. They're responsible, dependable," Bears GM Ryan Poles said. "All of those things that we've talked about, that we look for."
Any warm body can't hurt considering the holes on their roster.
The Bears' selection of Washington cornerback Kyler Gordon at No. 39 overall mystified no one who has followed the team. They've had one interception from a cornerback each of the last two years and owned the worst team passer rating against in 2021.
It also explains why they needed their second pick, hard-hitting safety Jaquan Brisker of Penn State. He went No. 48 overall and had visited Halas Hall before the draft, as Gordon had.
They finally got the wide receiver in Round 3, and Velus Jones of Tennessee has the kind of speed and versatility they once had from another Tennessee receiver they recently had, Cordarrelle Patterson. But Jones will soon turn 25 after spending six years at USC and at Tennessee.
Gordon fills a need for a starting left cornerback. They have no real starting safety currently alongside Eddie Jackson so Brisker will have a real opportunity to win a starting spot. The same is true for Jones whose competition is Byron Pringle, the receiver with some legal problems at the moment after his arrest last week. Gordon was a competitive dancer as a youth before he played football, thanks to his mother.
"I was competitive, went to nationals, did all that," Gordon said. "The lyrical, ballet, hip hop, all that. She got me into that and that helped me transition to the game of football when I first finally got into that. So I'm thankful I did that."
Bears scout Francis St. Paul saw this start as helping his football development.
"You see it in his balance. You see it in his change of direction," St. Paul said. "He ran a 6.67 three-cone. And the most impressive about it, he was stumbling and pulled out of that stumble and to finish with that time, which if he didn't stumble that time would have been amazing."
Brisker made five career interceptions at Penn State.
"And the cool thing about him, one of those attributes you look for in players is can he make big plays in big moments?" Poles said."And he showed that over and over in his career so we’re excited about him."
Brisker's ability to be physical all over the field caught Poles' attention.
"Football is about hitting hard and not being soft or anything like that," Brisker said. "I feel like it comes from (growing up in) Pittsburgh, but also my brothers. My older brothers played football, and they showed me the way."
Jones has elite speed after running 4.31 seconds in the 40 at the combine, second fastest time for any receiver.
At 6-foot, 204 and with such speed, Poles had to invoke the name everyone wants to throw around these days when they pick a receiver: Deebo, as in Samuel.
"I'm not going to compare him to Deebo," Poles said, and then he did. "But he has that flexibility where you can put him anywhere. Backfield. Slot. Outside. And then he's a returner, gunner.
"There are so many different things that he can do. And then, always adding that element of speed is important because as a defense, you have to think. Where is he? You have to find out where he is and then all of a sudden that opens up other things for other people."
Poles admitted the fact his new receiver is turning 25 years old soon is a bit problematic but not too much of a problem. Jones, who was in college six years at USC and then Tennessee, likes the identity this establishes in relation to other younger teammates.
"They look at me as a big brother, especially with the knowledge I have, the amount of time I’ve been in college. They look at me as a big brother, a leader and also as a resource."
One key need the Bears haven't addressed is starting right guard. They don't have a pick in Round 4 or until No. 148 in Round 5, as Poles didn't swing a deal for extra picks and move down.
"I wish I didn't have to sit out," he said.
It's unlikely he'll be trading up to get back into the fourth round, though.
"The board has fallen for the most part the way that we thought it would," Poles said. "There's always like surprises and you know I'm not sure how it's going to play but we'll just react and again, just like we did today, it's going to be the best player available and we'll just keep adding good players to this football team."
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
