Bears rookie defensive back comes to Chicago with a major chip on his shoulder and a real shot to shake up the secondary
The Chicago Bears rookie cornerback Malik Muhammad arrives to the NFL with a chip on his shoulder and will get the opportunity to compete for a starting spot in the secondary.
The Chicago Bears got great value in the fourth-round of the 2026 NFL Draft when the team traded up to select former Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad with the 124th overall pick.
A year prior, Muhammad was expected to be a top prospect in the 2026 class and a fall into Day 3 wasn’t something anyone expected. Muhammad was the 16th cornerback selected. An outcome like that would make any player eager to prove everyone wrong.
“I do have a chip on my shoulder,” Muhammad told reporters at rookie minicamp. “It was just a lot of emotions going on at the time. That’s a childhood dream. I’m just blessed to be here, be in this position, and be with a winning organization with the Bears in the city of Chicago.”
Chicago Bears rookie Malik Muhammad will compete for a starting job at cornerback
After stepping foot on the field at rookie minicamp, Muhammad finally got the chance to prove to the staff what kind of value they landed. While it’s still early, Muhammad certainly has the ability to compete for a starting job, or at least earn some kind of rotational role.
“I think everybody’s got an opportunity to compete,” Allen said Saturday. “We’re not making any decisions right now in terms of where we’re at on the roster. We’re going to give everybody an opportunity to go out here and compete and earn whatever playing time that might be. He is a guy that we’re excited about. He’s a guy that’s got a lot of skillset that we’re looking for and now we’ll just see how quickly he progresses.”
At the outside cornerback position, Muhammad will likely be competing against Tyrique Stevenson for the starting job. However, the Bears’ coaching staff has already started cross-training Muhammad, working him at multiple positions and giving him reps at nickel over the weekend.
“It is something different because I didn’t play too much of nickel in college, just on matchups,” Muhammad explained. “It’s been challenging, for sure. Just learning the whole defense, knowing where all of the pieces go, knowing where your help is. Learning the inside and outs of it. It’s been new, but it’s been fun. . . They’re just training me at corner and nickel, they haven’t told me ‘that’s going to be your set position,’ they just got me playing both.”
At the nickel spot, the Bears already have an established starter in Kyler Gordon. But, it’s worth noting Allen loves to mix in dime personnel looks and that could be a role for Muhammad if he isn’t able to win the starting outside CB2 spot.
Regardless, he’s already showing the right mentality before he starts really competing with the rest of the room later this month at OTAs.
“I’m competitive as hell,” Muhammad added. “I’m competitive, I’m ultracompetitive.”