NFL execs continue to wildly disrespect the Bears new safety tandem leading up to the 2024 season
The Chicago Bears most underrated addition of the offseason is clearly going to surprise a lot of people with his impact this upcoming season.After bringing in former All-Pro safety Kevin Byard to the defense to replace veteran Eddie Jackson, the Bears secondary feels like they have the missing piece to take the unit to an […]
The Chicago Bears most underrated addition of the offseason is clearly going to surprise a lot of people with his impact this upcoming season.
After bringing in former All-Pro safety Kevin Byard to the defense to replace veteran Eddie Jackson, the Bears secondary feels like they have the missing piece to take the unit to an entirely new level in 2024.
Pairing Byard with third-year budding star Jaquan Brisker also gives the Bears an exciting safety tandem to work with, however, the rest of the league doesn't appear to see it that way.
In ESPN's latest Top-10 positional rankings that released this morning made by NFL executives, coaches, and scouts, both of the Bears starting safeties were left off the list. In fact, neither were even listed as honorable mentions. Brisker, however, did receive some votes from members around the league, but not enough to qualify. Byard was not even mentioned at all.
To be fair, Byard is coming off a down year after spending time with the Tennessee Titans and the Philadelphia Eagles but has consistently been a top safety for years now. The disrespect for Brisker is even more eye opening, and those inside Halas Hall believe he's set to change that narrative and blow up to the national stage this season.
"He's just full of energy, full of a lot of words," Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson said about Brisker via ChicagoBears.com. "I mean, he's always talking. He's always being competitive, a lot of juice. So just allowing himself to be who he is. I think now it's just continuing to light the stage up as far as his energy and playmaking goes."
Brisker has shined for each of the last two seasons with the Bears totaling 100+ tackles in each season and had nine pass deflections during the 2023 season. Going into Year 3 with the Bears, Brisker is ready to take on a much larger role within the defense and is certainly bringing the energy already this offseason.
"I just think he took ownership going into a second year that he was gonna elevate his game," head coach Matt Eberflus said. "And part of elevation of game is the communication side of it. When you play at a high level and you communicate at a high level, people respect you. And that's where the leadership comes from. Leadership is about doing. And he did the job. That's where I saw him grow the most. And I'm gonna see him grow more this year."
Being paired with a veteran and former All-Pro in Byard will also help Brisker bring the most out of his game. At this point in his career, Byard's best impact for a defense is going to be his veteran presence and communication in the backend to lead the younger guys in the secondary.
"He's special, just in terms of a leader. People respect him just because of the man he is, and he's been a devoted guy to this game for a long time," Eberflus said about Byard. "You can really feel that. That's palpable. You can feel the love of the game that he has. He's very respectful. He's like a coach on the field. He's got really good ball-hawking ability. That's why I like him a lot."
Eberflus' scheme is set up perfectly to help both players bring out the best in each other this season compared to how the position was handled over the last two seasons. With Jackson in the secondary, Brisker was confined mainly to the box closer to the line of scrimmage. With Byard's size and versatility, both players can rotate between either side of the field and either deep or in the box, before or after the snap.
That kind of versatility can set both players up to make plays on the football while creating confusion for opposing offenses.
"I feel like the Bears haven't gotten the best version of me yet," Brisker said. "I feel like it's going to happen this year. Having both of us move left and right, is going to be good for the both of us. We get the best of both worlds, which is good. It's going to show a lot of what I can do in the back end at free safety. You're going to see it more this year — my range, how I can make more plays on the ball."
If Eberflus' plan with his new safety tandem works the way he's expecting, then it's only a matter of time until Brisker and Byard start seeing some national recognition.
Four Chicago Bears players looking to put together their first Pro Bowl campaigns during the 2024 season
It’s time for them to get some recognition.
