How Injuries Made Bears' Jaylon Johnson One of NFL's Most Underrated Cornerbacks

Though the Chicago Bears' 2025 season eventually became a stunning success story, the team started training camp on the wrong foot with an inauspicious injury report. Star cornerback and two-time Pro Bowler Jaylon Johnson began training camp on the non-football injury list, and it was later revealed that he injured his groin during private workouts sometime after OTA's.

Bears fans had hoped that it was early enough in the offseason that Johnson would be healthy to start the year, but things only got worse. Johnson missed the season opener, played only a handful of snaps in Week 2, and was then ruled out indefinitely. He returned in Week 13 and played the rest of the year, including the playoffs, but was clearly nowhere close to full health.

As a result, Johnson is no longer considered a top cornerback outside of Chicago. In their annual rankings of each position group, ESPN polled anonymous coaches, scouts, and executives for their Top 10 cornerbacks, and Johnson only made the cut as an Honorable Mention.

Time is on Jaylon Johnson's side

NFL analyst Jeremy Fowler, who compiled the rankings for ESPN, included one tidbit about Johnson from an anonymous NFL personnel evaluator. "Time on task has been an issue," the evaluator said. "He missed a lot of camp and game action. But he's young (27), so he should be able to get back to his top form. He's got juice when he's full tilt."

That last part should be the main takeaway from this ranking. Though Johnson is going into his seventh NFL season, he's still on the right side of 30, and will be for two more years. He struggled through that soft tissue injury last year, but when healthy has proven to be an elite coverage corner. Remember, Johnson is a two-time Pro Bowler and earned a second-team All-Pro nod in 2023.

Assuming he stays healthy through training camp (feel free to knock on wood here, Bears fans), Johnson should once again be a lockdown corner for Chicago as soon as Week 1.

Jaylon Johnson may be best suited as an underdog

Ending up as an Honorable Mention in ESPN's ranking ends back-to-back years in the Top 10 for Johnson. In their Top 10 cornerback rankings for the 2025 season, Johnson landed at No. 8, which was the same rank he held in 2024. For two years, Johnson was widely seen as one of the best in the business, but his forgettable 2025 season has seemingly tarnished that reputation.

And that may be exactly what Johnson needs for the 2026 season. Though he surely basked in the glory of his first ever playoff win, the Bears' first since 2010, it was overall an underwhelming year from Johnson. Now that he's fallen off of ESPN's Top 10 ranking, Johnson has officially become an underrated player, arguably one of the most underrated corners in the NFL.

Bears' fans are hoping to get a motivated Jaylon Johnson in 2026, and this ranking should only add fuel to his fire. If the Bears are to build on their success from last season, they're going to need a vastly improved defense, especially in the secondary. Another All-Pro season from Jaylon Johnson would go a long way towards that end.

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