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The Bears filled the final opening in their starting secondary through the 2023 NFL Draft, drafting Miami (FL) cornerback Tyrique Stevenson with the No. 56 pick.
Stevenson will presumably join Jaylon Johnson as the two starting outside cornerbacks on Chicago’s roster, with second-year Kyler Gordon sliding into the nickel. One of the top performers at the Senior Bowl and an ideal fit with what the Bears want out of their defensive backs, Stevenson projects as a Day 1 starter with the ability to put together a solid rookie season in 2023.
Film studies galore have already been done on some of the Bears’ rookies, both by me and many other content creators in this online Chicago football-sphere. However, with the increasing presence data is playing in how NFL teams select players, I figured I’d take a look at what some of the advanced analytics say about both Stevenson and the rest of the Bears’ 2023 draft class.
Relative Athletic Score
In addition to having arm length in the 81st percentile and hand size in the 83rd percentile for the cornerback position, Stevenson was one of the better performers from an athletic perspective at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine.
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Stevenson’s Relative Athletic Score placed 13th among the 38 corners invited to the Combine, and his 8.93 score correlates to an 89th-percentile athleticism profile. It was a loaded group of elite athletes at the cornerback position in the 2023 draft, and he was certainly able to remain closer to the head of the pack.
Advanced analytics
Stevenson was the eighth cornerback selected in the 2023 draft, and from a statistical perspective — per SIS DataHub — he’s right in the mix with some of the cornerbacks who were selected ahead of him.
When comparing Stevenson to the top 10 cornerbacks taken in this year’s class, he had the third-best completion percentage allowed at just 35.3%, along with the fourth-best passer rating against at just 44.9.
2023 NFL Draft Top 10 CBs Coverage
Season | Player | Team | NFL Team | Cov. Snaps | Yards Per Cover Snap | Tgts | Comp% | Deserved Catch % | Y/A | Y/G | Rating Against |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Player | Team | NFL Team | Cov. Snaps | Yards Per Cover Snap | Tgts | Comp% | Deserved Catch % | Y/A | Y/G | Rating Against |
2022 | Devon Witherspoon | Illinois | Seahawks | 412 | 0.4 | 56 | 30.40% | 61.80% | 3.3 | 15 | 3.9 |
2022 | DJ Turner | Michigan | Colts | 457 | 0.8 | 64 | 37.50% | 64.10% | 5.7 | 26 | 54.6 |
2022 | Deonte Banks | Maryland | Patriots | 368 | 0.6 | 53 | 37.70% | 61.10% | 4.5 | 20 | 63.3 |
2022 | Emmanuel Forbes | Mississippi State | Giants | 409 | 0.5 | 43 | 39.50% | 70.00% | 4.8 | 17 | 30.9 |
2022 | Julius Brents | Kansas State | Commanders | 432 | 0.8 | 41 | 41.50% | 80.00% | 8.7 | 26 | 57.8 |
2022 | Christian Gonzalez | Oregon | Bengals | 418 | 0.6 | 42 | 47.60% | 66.70% | 5.9 | 21 | 62.3 |
2022 | Joey Porter Jr. | Penn State | Steelers | 261 | 0.4 | 29 | 41.40% | 54.50% | 3.7 | 11 | 52.1 |
2022 | Cam Smith | South Carolina | Dolphins | 283 | 0.6 | 38 | 34.20% | 62.50% | 4.1 | 14 | 32.5 |
2022 | Tyrique Stevenson | Miami (FL) | Bears | 287 | 0.9 | 34 | 35.30% | 57.10% | 8 | 25 | 44.9 |
2022 | Garrett Williams | Syracuse | Cardinals | 161 | 1.2 | 22 | 54.50% | 77.80% | 9 | 28 | 81.4 |
Stevenson finished with the second-best “boom” percentage of the top-10 cornerbacks at 31.8%, and his positive play percentage of 35.5% was the fifth-best of the bunch. The latter of which was better than first-round picks Devon Witherspoon and Deonte Banks, while the former exceeded all corners in the group outside of Garrett Williams, who had the smallest sample size of the bunch.
However, Stevenson’s “bust” percentage of 41.2% was by far the highest of the bunch. This played into a negative effect on his EPA, as his Points Saved per play and Points Above Average per play were both the last of the bunch.
2023 NFL Draft Top 10 CBs Data
Season | Player | Team | NFL Team | Cov. Snaps | Tgts | Points Saved | PS Per Play | Points Above Avg | PAA Per Play | EPA | EPA/Tgt | Positive% | Boom% | Bust% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Player | Team | NFL Team | Cov. Snaps | Tgts | Points Saved | PS Per Play | Points Above Avg | PAA Per Play | EPA | EPA/Tgt | Positive% | Boom% | Bust% |
2022 | Devon Witherspoon | Illinois | Seahawks | 412 | 56 | 59.87 | 0.15 | 42.75 | 0.107 | -46.5 | -0.83 | 19.60% | 7.10% | 26.80% |
2022 | Julius Brents | Kansas State | Colts | 432 | 41 | 50.4 | 0.118 | 32.99 | 0.077 | -13.2 | -0.323 | 36.60% | 14.60% | 26.80% |
2022 | Christian Gonzalez | Oregon | Patriots | 418 | 42 | 46.02 | 0.111 | 29.32 | 0.071 | -5.93 | -0.141 | 45.20% | 26.20% | 21.40% |
2022 | Deonte Banks | Maryland | Giants | 368 | 53 | 37.54 | 0.105 | 24.22 | 0.068 | -15.1 | -0.284 | 34.00% | 13.20% | 20.80% |
2022 | Emmanuel Forbes | Mississippi State | Commanders | 409 | 43 | 42.2 | 0.104 | 26.14 | 0.065 | -28.9 | -0.672 | 37.20% | 18.60% | 23.30% |
2022 | DJ Turner | Michigan | Bengals | 457 | 64 | 32.89 | 0.073 | 13.45 | 0.03 | -12.5 | -0.195 | 29.70% | 14.10% | 21.90% |
2022 | Joey Porter Jr. | Penn State | Steelers | 261 | 29 | 16.08 | 0.063 | 6.28 | 0.025 | -3.24 | -0.112 | 31.00% | 17.20% | 10.50% |
2022 | Cam Smith | South Carolina | Dolphins | 283 | 38 | 20.47 | 0.076 | 10.47 | 0.039 | -15.7 | -0.412 | 28.90% | 13.20% | 26.30% |
2022 | Tyrique Stevenson | Miami (FL) | Bears | 287 | 34 | 9.89 | 0.035 | -1.54 | -0.005 | -8.93 | -0.263 | 35.30% | 26.50% | 41.20% |
2022 | Garrett Williams | Syracuse | Cardinals | 161 | 22 | 11.53 | 0.072 | 4.98 | 0.031 | 1.89 | 0.086 | 45.50% | 31.80% | 18.20% |
It’s worth noting from the first data set that, although Stevenson’s completion percentage is one of the lowest, his 8 yards allowed per attempt are the highest of the bunch. This speaks to occasional concerns giving up big plays, even if his overall play is more consistent than many other cornerbacks in this class.
Stevenson will have to prove that he can avoid giving up those chunk plays that give him a more inefficient analytical profile. That said, he’s a rock-solid corner who does his job very well on positive plays, which come more often than most other top cornerback prospects.
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