Bears select Washington cornerback Kyler Gordon, Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker in second round of NFL Draft
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (CBS/AP) — The Chicago Bears have picked Washington Cornerback Kyler Gordon Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker in the 2022 NFL draft Friday night.
With Gordon, the Bears addressed a need in the secondary with their first draft pick under new general manager Ryan Poles. The Bears chose him in the second round at No. 39 overall on Friday night.
The Bears later chose Brisker with the 48th overall pick.
The Bears were looking for a potential starter opposite Jaylon Johnson. The athletic and hard-hitting Gordon fits that description.
Gordon had 46 tackles — two for loss — and two interceptions to go with a team-high seven pass breakups in 12 starts last season. Washington's other cornerback, Trent McDuffie, went to Kansas City with the No. 21 pick. The Huskies finished 4-8 and were fifth in the Pac-12 North with a 3-6 mark in conference play.
Gordon has good size, but ran a little slow at the combine. That may have kept him from being a first-rounder.
But he is known for great athleticism, and he credits doing kung fun and ballet as a kid - even dancing competitively until age 15.
"It was like the first competitive like anything I ever did, and I would just go around the competitions – the lyrical, ballet, hip-hop, all that – it just helped me transition to the game of football when I first finally got to that," Gordon said Friday night. "I'm definitely going to bring you a lot of energy. I want you to know that when I come to Soldier Field and I'm there, I just want to le live and popping."
Brisker, who spent two years at Lackawanna Community College, was a second-team All-American as a senior last season. He had 64 tackles and 51/2 for loss to go with two interceptions and five pass breakups in 12 games despite a banged up shoulder. He opted out of the Outback Bowl loss to Arkansas to prepare for the draft.
After two years at junior college, he ended up playing three seasons at Penn State, taking advantage of the extra year the NCAA granted to those who participated during the pandemic.
Safety another position where the Bears are thin outside of one player – that being Eddie Jackson.
Brisker, like Gordon, is known for being physical and tough - traits the new Bears brass clearly likes. Brisker talked about on what he's bringing to the Bears.
"Everything – my versatility, you know, whether that's in the box or into the field, but also leadership and my communication skills," he said.
The Bears also had one pick in the third round (71). For that pick, they chose Tennessee wide receiver Velus Jones Jr., with whom Justin Fields will finally get some help.
Jones spent six seasons in college and is almost 25, but he has great speed. He was the 2nd fastest wide receiver at the combine, and he's a good returner as well.
The Bears further have two picks in the fifth (148 and 150) and one in the sixth (186). They were without a first-rounder after trading it to the New York Giants last year to move up for quarterback Justin Fields.
The Bears went 6-11 last season and missed the playoffs for the ninth time in 11 years. That convinced chairman George McCaskey to make big changes, so he fired former GM Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy and replaced them with Poles and Matt Eberflus.
Poles has been reworking the roster, trading star pass rusher Khalil Mack to the Los Angeles Chargers. His most notable free agent signing was a three-year agreement with former Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi that got wiped out because of a failed physical.
The Bears came in with issues to address on both sides, considering their offense ranked among the NFL's worst last year and the defense switching to a 4-3 front after playing a 3-4 for seven years.
Fields had an uneven rookie season, mixing some promising flashes with more interceptions (10) than touchdown passes (seven). The former Ohio State star had an unimpressive 73.2 passer rating.