Tyrique Stevenson in Trouble if Chicago Bears Accomplish 2026 NFL Draft Goal

The Bears have stated one of their goals for the 2026 NFL Draft and if they can accomplish it at cornerback, it'll be bad news for Tyrique Stevenson.

Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. | David Banks-Imagn Images

One of the many concerns the Chicago Bears have on defense this year comes at the cornerback spot.

The Bears lost Nahshon Wright to the New York Jets in free agency and are now looking at a competition for the job opposite Jaylon Johnson. That competition will include Tyrique Stevenson, Terell Smith, Zah Frazier and possibly Cam Lewis, also.

The problem with that group is Stevenson saw a decreased role in 2025 due to lackluster play, Smith (injury) and Frazier (personal reason) didn't play at all last season and are unproven, especially as starters, and Lewis is a career backup who could end up playing safety.

Stevenson is the favorite of that group given his past experience as a starter, and because of the flashes he has shown during his career that once made us believe he'd be a long-term answer.

Those flashes aren't lost on assistant general manager Jeff King, who noted Stevenson has shown the ability to be great.

"“We are never going to put a ceiling on a guys upside. He has shown flashes of greatness," King said of Stevenson.

No guarantees for Stevenson

Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. | David Banks-Imagn Images

The keyword in King's praise of Stevenson is "flashes."

That means that while Stevenson has shown no shortage of promise during his career, he simply hasn't been consistent enough to be considered a locked-in starter.

And, with the Bears' goal of adding more competitors during the 2026 NFL Draft, things may get more difficult for Stevenson in terms of his ability to land a starting job.

"Create competition for the roster," King said of the goal in the draft. "Create hard decisions that we have to make come the start of the season. Add guys to our building that compete daily. That's our goal."

How vulnerable is Stevenson?

Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. | Dan Powers-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Stevenson is already vulnerable considering he's going to have to compete for a starting job, but there are levels to that vulnerability and right now we'd say it's low because the competition isn't great.

We'll know just how vulnerable Stevenson is by how early the Bears address the cornerback spot.

If Chicago uses its first-round pick, it'll be DEFCON 1 for the veteran cornerback's starting chances. If the Bears use a Day 2 selection, that would be a less serious threat, but still a big one.

Any cornerback selection beyond Round 4 would show the Bears have a lot more confidence in Stevenson than we thought, but we do not expect Chicago to wait that long. If we had to place a bet, the Bears will have another competitor at cornerback by the fourth round.