Skip to main content
Bear Digest

The Tale Bears Scout Told About Malik Muhammad Reveals Plenty

The Bears traded up several spots on Day 3 of the draft for Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad and it was understandable after one scout relayed a college tale.
Gene Chamberlain|
Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad does the field drills at this year's NFL combine.
Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad does the field drills at this year's NFL combine. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In this story:

Chicago Bears

Bears GM Ryan Poles frequently applauds the ability of his scouting department to pinpoint players of high character.

Whether this ultimately means wins on Sundays is not easily determined but it can’t hurt if the player also has athletic ability.  

When Poles selected cornerback Malik Muhammad on the draft’s final day, he saw this as a contributing factor. Muhammad's 4.42-second speed in the 40-yard dash and an ability to play man-to-man coverage obviously didn’t hurt.

Bears national scout John Syty described a situation regarding Muhammad that told the tale of high character they saw. It involved a saftey drafted by  the Dolphins in Round 5, Muhammad’s Texas teammate Michael Taaffe.

The Texas tale about Muhammad

The story Syty related occurred when Muhammad was a mere in-coming freshman and was told to the Bears by Taaffe when they were doing their due diligence in researching the background of players.

“There was a sophomore safety who had been there for two years,  Michael Taaffe, who is also in this draft class,” Syty said. “And this is Mike telling the story about Malik, but it's, Malik gets in there (to Texas), Mike's teaching him the defense.

“They're sitting there and Malik looks up at the depth chart, the board next to him, and sees Mike's (jersey) No. 16, and he’s second on the depth chart. And Malik turns to Mike saying, ‘Hey, well what's the case with this?’ And Mike says, ‘Well, listen, I’m young, I'm behind a couple really good vets in this room and I like my role with special teams.’ And Malik looks at him and said, ‘Well, I guess you really don't want to play in the NFL then, do you?’ He said, ‘Why don't you erase that and put your number up there?’ And that's just kind of how this kid's wired.”

A freshman trying to learn the defense, and he’s questioning the will of the sophomore safety. It also showed how driven Muhammad was to get to the NFL.

“He’s hard-wired to play in the NFL,” Syty said. “(Muhammad’s) goal was to get to college, do three years, get out and get to our level.

“And I think as a result, he's getting rewarded for the fruits of his labor.”

 And the guy who was questioned made it a round later after Muhammad provided a little spur very early in his career as a freshman questioning his drive.

This is especially valuable considering who Muhammad could be competing against this year for a job. Tyrique Stevenson’s big problem hasn’t been talent, but has been maintaining his focus.

Getting competition from a player with talent, who ran faster in the combine 40-yard dash than he did (4.45), should be a little extra incentive to stay focused for a veteran in his contract year. Stevenson already was going to get competition from Zah Frazier, who is faster than both of those cornerbacks but lacks big-time experience after sitting out his rookie season following a career at SIU and Texas-San Antonio.  And Terell Smith could still figure into the mix after an ACL tear in training camp last year.

Challenge coming for Tyrique Stevenson

Stevenson will need to maintain his focus against that type of athletic ability but also their mental approach. You don’t want to be a veteran being told by a rookie to be more motivated. The Dolphins’ fifth-round draft pick can tell him that much.

Ultimately, this shows how far the Bears’ scouting department digs in its attempt to bring in players now with the aid of the coaches under Ben Johnson.

When you hear this story, it kind of brings to mind the type of player Johnson said they were looking for in the draft.

“I think (assistant GM) Jeff King hit it a couple days ago, and that's really that we're looking for high level competitors," Johnson said. "Guys that if you took football away from, they really don't know what to do with themselves.

"It's a huge part. They eat it, they sleep it, they breathe it. And I think we're able to identify those types of guys. When you have guys like that, they usually find a way to come out on top.”

Stevenson should have plenty of reasons to be focused at this training camp.

X: BearsOnSI

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

Home/Draft