The irony of the Matt Eberflus Chicago Bears regime is the one great strength he established eventually started his downfall.
It was like knocking down a foundation stone. The whole thing eventually collapsed.
This, of course, was his secondary and the downfall of the Bears undoubtedly all occurred after Tyrique Stevenson's foolishness on the Hail Mary pass.
Up to that point, no one could say a negative thing about the Bears' secondary built and trained by Eberflus. His departure still left a strong group of players for pass coverage and a deep one at that.
Still, much changes in the NFL from year to year—NFL stands for Not for Long—and there are unanswered questions about the Bears secondary at the beginning of this week's OTAs.
Here's what could be learned during OTAs about the 2025 Bears secondary.
Gordon fancies himself as the Marvel character Spider-Man but it almost seems like defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has another Marvel character or characters in mind for him and that's the Skrulls, who are shape shifters.
Gordon has been the slot cornerback but early on was an outside cornerback who shifted to slot when the defense wasn't in the base. It almost sounds like Allen wants to see him resume that role or even start playing safety or some sort of variation thereof.
"Does he go outside and compete at outside corner? Does he compete some at safety?" Allen said. "I've told him that he needs to be learning both of those spots. We'll figure out where that second position is where he can go and compete. Hopefully we can find some more playing time for him.”
This comment is in reference to the fact Gordon might be their best or second-best defensive talent and he was on the field for the lowest percentage of plays while available last year. He played 78% of available snaps (725) after 80% the previous year.
Gordon has been watching film of players in the Saints defenses.
"Their versatile players are able to do everything," he said. "Being a player like that, I feel like as an offense, it's hard to track you down as far as what you're doing in that role, in that play or down. I'm very intrigued with this plan he’s going to come up with and what he's got for offenses. Especially watching players like Tyrann Mathieu and who the Saints had in the past. All I can say is I'm excited. I can't wait, honestly.”
The extent to which they use him in various roles might not be obvious in OTAs because it could be situational, but if they line him up outside or at safety, it will be obvious.
The other thing about that, Gordon didn't really seem to start to make great progress as a player until they settled him into that slot role and stopped making him play outside and inside.
So, this possible movement is to be watched closely.
They drafted Stevenson with Bears scouts and outside analysts, saying his greatest strength in coverage at Miami was press man-to-man. That was the opposite of what Eberflus' scheme stressed.
The Saints played 70% or 80% more man-to-man coverage under Allen than the Bears did under Eberflus.
If this scouting was true about Stevenson, they should be playing right to his strength.
Was this actually true? We'll begin to find out soon because they'll have tons of non-padded seven-on-seven work in OTAs and gradually advance what they're doing on the field thereafter. If he's the great man-to-man cornerback everyone projected, it should quickly become apparent.
Stevenson's maturity level is also a question, but they won't have their answers to that until there is live fire in games.
3. Jaquan Brisker's health
This one is up to the football gods. After three concussions in three years and one that took him out for the final 12 games last year, Brisker says he has a clean bill of health.
Can he avoid it again? Is he going to be too conscious of the past?
He seems like an obvious candidate for wearing a Guardian Cap.
OTAs might not show any of this because of the lack of contact. When the pads are on is when everyone should know how his play has been affected.
If it is apparent his play is affected during non-contact work, maybe there will be a problem.
Zah Frazier comes to the team with the fifth pick this year and is expected to compete with Terell Smith, another fifth-rounder, for the first reserve outside cornerback spot. The competition with Smith will be interesting because of Frazier's great speed and 6-foot-3 height, but also because the past staff held Smith in high regard as a cornerback who was very disciplined and good in zone coverage.
If he's also able to translate this to the new scheme then the battle will be on.
Safety Kevin Byard turns 32 in training camp. He's older for a safety but there have been plenty who played in their 30s without a problem. The Vikings have 36-year-old Harrison Smith for crying out loud. Former Bear Tashaun Gipson started all but one game in 2023 for the 49ers at age 33 after leaving the Bears.
The real concern here is if Byard can adjust his training regimen to an older player's needs. He has always prided himself on avoiding missed practices and never missing games with injuries. When the body gets older, it needs to be watched closer and rest is in order.
Whether he is more careful with this sort of thing could become apparent in OTAs.
It's a big ask to increase man-to-man coverage for everyone by almost 100%. Jaylon Johnson shouldn't mind because he always was chasing the best opposing receiver but the other DBs need to handle the demands and show they have the combination of recovery speed and strength it takes for this type of change.
Someone has to be signed to play next year.
Starters Brisker and Byard and backups Elijah Hicks, Jonathan Owens and Tarvarius Moore are all in need of contracts. Who steps forward and maybe who gets signed for the future will be hot topics. Also, they have undrafted options as well as veteran free agent pick-ups to ponder.
X: BearsOnSI