Rookie Rundown: What does Tyrique Stevenson bring to the Bears’ defense?

With the 56th pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears selected Miami CB Tyrique Stevenson and I absolutely love the pick.

Stevenson was a clear standout at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, plus he fits the same size and speed profile that Matt Eberflus seemed to favor in Indiannapolis (leading them to select similarly-built Rock Ya-Sin at pick #34 in 2019)

But that’s just a chart showing testing numbers — when on the field, who is Tyrique Stevenson? What is he good at? Where does he need to grow? And where does he fit on the Chicago Bears’ defense? I dove into his tape and threw together a quick video to explain — check it out and let me know what you think!

Conclusion

You need good DBs to win a championship in today’s NFL, and by picking Stevenson the Bears take a strong step towards a deep DB room that’s versatile enough to handle injuries while also providing Ryan Poles flexibility with Jaylon Johnson’s upcoming contract negotiation.

Based on what I’ve seen, Stevenson is a do-it-all CB that should fit wonderfully within the Bears’ hybrid Cover 2-Cover 3 scheme. It’ll be interesting to see what this means for Kyler Gordon long-term (don’t be too dramatic, I’m just curious who they’ll take off the field in their Base 4-DB defense), but we’ll have to wait until Training Camp to even get a clue as to how the first unit will shape up.