While the Bears’ offense has been a focal point of concern this offseason, general manager Ryan Poles used his first two selections to land defensive players in the 2022 NFL draft.
What the Bears got were two immediate contributors in cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker in the second round, which addressed huge needs in the secondary.
Still, there’s not a lot of confidence in Chicago heading into the 2022 season — as evidenced by them landing dead last in the league in ESPN’s Football Power Index rankings.
But the Bears remained steady at 24th in ESPN’s post-NFL draft power rankings, where Courtney Cronin noted it was safety Eddie Jackson who benefited the most from Chicago’s draft haul.
The Bears came away from the second round with two starting-caliber defensive backs and hope to revive their secondary off the play of rookies, including Jaquan Brisker. Jackson hasn’t recorded an interception since the 2019 season and might stand to benefit from playing farther away from the box, with Brisker starting opposite him at strong safety. Brisker is a physical, versatile defender who played 400 snaps at safety, 100 snaps at inside linebacker and 100 snaps at slot corner in 2021 at Penn State. With this season being dubbed a “clean slate” for Jackson, aligning him with a DB whose skill set complements his could lead him to rediscover the level of play that made him one of the league’s best safeties three years ago.
Jackson has received his fair share of criticism over the last couple of years following less-than-impressive outings after a massive contract extension. That includes not nabbing an interception since the 2019 season.
Still, head coach Matt Eberflus made it clear that Jackson has a “fresh slate” in this defense, where the hope is he can get back to the playmaking safety he used to be.
Jackson will have a good chance to do just that with the addition of Brisker, who is expected to start at strong safety, as well as an overhauled secondary.
