Miami cornerback Tyrique Stevenson sat in Bears coach Matt Eberflus’ office during one of the team’s 30 prospect visits allowed by the NFL.
“He was like, the only reason I’m on a ’30’ visit is because I play the game how it used to be played,” Stevenson said. “Very tough and very physical.”
No one likes talking about how the game used to be played more than the Bears, whose last 50 years haven’t been nearly as successful as the first 50. Those around the franchise that deify Butkus and Singletary found last season particularly distasteful, then. Lost in house-on-fire need to get quarterback Justin Fields the draft help he deserved was this sobering fact: the Bears had the worst defense in football last year.
No one gave up more points. Only three teams gave up more yards.
The Bears were equal-opportunity terrible: the 7.4 net yards per pass they allowed were the most in the league and the 4.9 yards per rush they allowed were sixth-most. After they traded linebacker Roquan Smith, things got even uglier: the Bears allowed a 106.3 passer rating, by far the worst in the NFL, and posted a league-low seven sacks.
Friday night, they took steps to try to fix it, drafting Florida defensive tackle Gervon Dexter with Pick 53 and, after giving the Jaguars the first pick of the fifth round to move up five spots to No. 56, Stevenson. They took yet another defender, South Carolina defensive tackle Zacch Pickens, with the first pick of Round 3.
Interior defensive linemen aren’t sexy picks, but the Bears chose not to fill the position with big-name free agents when they found the price tags for Dre’Mont Jones and Javon Hargrave too expensive in March.
The draft, then, was exactly what they needed — and, not coincidentally, different than what they’ve done in years past. In a span of about 45 minutes Friday night, the Bears drafted three defenders on Day 2 of the draft — as many as they’d taken from 2017-22 combined.
Two of those three — cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker, both second-round picks last year ¬— will pair with Stevenson in the defensive backfield. Stevenson figures to play outside corner, with Gordon bumping inside to the slot. Stevenson and Jaylon Johnson will form an intriguing outside tandem, with Stevenson giving the Bears an added insurance policy; Johnson is entering the last year of his contract.
Dexter and Pickens will join a defensive line that was the worst in the league last year both in pass rushing and run stuffing, per Pro Football Focus. Pickens wants to fix that.
“I feel like once you stop the run, you can always be able to pass rush,” he said.
Both SEC players were premier high school prospects but require some NFL projection. Dexter didn’t begin playing basketball until his junior year of high school because he was a standout basketball player. His travel ball team featured future NBA star Scottie Barnes.
“On the basketball court I was very aggressive so I was starting to foul out of a lot of games … ” he said. “I gave football a try and it just came natural to me and I’ve just been going since.”
All three bring an attitude to a defense in need of an adjustment. The Bears believe they began their overhaul when they signed linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards in March.
“For people who don’t know me and for me coming to the Bears, you’re going to get one ‘dog player that’s coming in with his head high, holding himself to his integrity to the game and to his dedication and his passion to the game,” said Stevenson, who played on Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s American squad in the Senior Bowl. “You’re getting an all-out baller who is coming in ready to make an impact from Day 1.”
He’ll get a chance. So will Dexter, who declared that he was “that guy who can get going and cause havoc and work the game.” When he visited the Bears at Halas Hall, he got his own lesson about the Bears’ defense over the years.
“Just the history of the defense, of the Bears,” he said. “Just going through like all of the background of everything ...
“I just loved it and am definitely proud to be a part of it now.”