Eddie Jackson is running away from the safety competition in the NFL

When the Chicago Bears picked free safety Eddie Jackson in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft, most, if not all, of our writers were completely on board with the selection. If I remember correctly, most, if not all, of us had him pegged as a week one starter last season as well. What I can’t recall though, is if any of us had him pegged as a future All Pro, and a guy in the running for Defensive Player of the Year.

Eddie Jackson has been outstanding during his time with the Bears, and he’s allowing defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to call certain things specifically because his free safety has such good range and football instincts. He’s been one of the best defensive backs in football this year, and he’s been filling the stat sheet too. So far he has 38 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss, 4 interceptions, 8 passes defended, 2 forced fumbled and a fumble recovery.

His three defensive touchdowns ties him with Charles Tillman for the most in a Bears’ season. Tillman returned three interceptions for TDs in 2012, and Jackson has touchdowns on two picks and a fumble recovery in 2018 with five games to go. The all-time record for defensive TDs is 5, and that’s held by Ken Houston of the Houston Oilers in 1971.

Jackson is chasing Bears’ history, but he’s chasing NFL history too.

We’ve had so much Jackson coverage the last couple weeks that we wanted to gather them into this story-stream in case you may have missed anything.