Bears rising star named one of the NFL's most underappreciated players
Plenty of talented young players flew under the radar on last year’s disappointing Chicago Bears squad. One player who Bears fans have begun to fall in love with, but hasn’t quite received attention on a a national scale is safety Jaquan Brisker. Drafted in the second round of the 2022 draft, Brisker’s play has left […]
Plenty of talented young players flew under the radar on last year’s disappointing Chicago Bears squad. One player who Bears fans have begun to fall in love with, but hasn’t quite received attention on a a national scale is safety Jaquan Brisker.
Drafted in the second round of the 2022 draft, Brisker’s play has left many with the belief that he can transform into an All-Pro caliber player in Chicago’s secondary.
Not only does Brisker bring a physical presence at the safety position, which was displayed in his 104 tackles in 2022, but he has the ball skills to match. He registered four sacks, five tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and this incredible interception in his rookie campaign.
In fact, Brisker showed enough in his lone NFL season for NFL.com to recognize him as one of the most underappreciated players in the entire league.
From NFL.com: “A second-round pick in last year's draft, Brisker enjoyed an exceptionally strong start to his career. Next Gen Stats show that he posted a -16.9 completion percentage over expected as the nearest defender in coverage last season — that was the league's best mark among safeties. In other words, passes thrown into his coverage had a 60.6 expected completion percentage, but he only allowed 43.8 percent to be caught. Entering Year 2, Brisker deserves much more love than he's received.”
The sky is the limit for Brisker entering his second season in Matt Eberflus’ defense. Chicago has significantly upgraded key defensive positions around him, which should make his life easier on the backend.
If Brisker is able to carry the momentum into 2023, the Bears’ defense will have a chance to finish in the top half of the NFL in just about every important metric.
