Kyle Fuller is no longer a member of the Chicago Bears.
It was announced on Thursday that the team would split from the twice Pro Bowler to free up space for the cap. The move proved to be unpopular with fans and, while giving the Bears some financial flexibility, it also opens up a big hole in the cornerback position.
Although the Bears have hired talented veteran Desmond Trufant, Pro Bowler 2015 is 30 years old and has lost 19 games in the past two seasons. That said, the team may end up looking to the 2021 NFL Draft to find their replacement for Fuller as their starting cornerback.
Fortunately for them, this year’s cornerback group is a very talented group. It is a deep class, but if the Bears plan to add a holder in position, they would be wise to aim for one in the first three rounds.
These five cornerbacks are among those that the Bears could consider as replacements for Kyle Fuller.
Greg Newsome II, Northwestern
One of the biggest early risers in the 2021 draft class, the Greg Newsome II tape looks like the role of a first-round talent.
An extensive six-foot, 190-pound defender, Newsome has long arms and a wide reception radius. It complements this size with impressive fluidity in the cover, easily changing direction in the cover and shows the hips loose when it falls backwards. Newsome accelerates well off its brakes and has the deep speed necessary to defend the vertical route quite efficiently. Perhaps the most impressive thing about his game is his high IQ: he has tremendous ability to recognize routes and is accurate in his diagnoses. Reading the defender’s eyes and timing his takedowns well, his 20 pass deviations in 19 games – including 16 in his last 11 games – are a testament to how fundamentally solid Newsome is.
Durability is a major concern in the Newsome game, having lost time due to injuries in all three seasons he spent at Northwestern. They say availability is the best skill, and your struggle to stay healthy can push your draft stock a little. Regardless, Newsome is a potential talented cornerback who would be the best target in a trade-down scenario for the Bears, but he wouldn’t have much scope if they took him in 20th position.
Eric Stokes, Georgia
With a strong ribbon and an incredible performance on his Professional Day, Eric Stokes may well have entered the territory of the first round.
The 6-foot, 194-pound cornerback made headlines with a stellar 4.25-yard 40-yard run on his professional day. Even though these numbers may be inflated due to the nature of the Pro Day test numbers, he is a legitimate athlete whose skills translate into the field. He is a fluid defender who has great speed in a straight line and accelerates well vertically out of his brakes. Stokes offers good route recognition skills and is calculated on the movements he makes on the cover. He is especially good at learning breaking concepts and his fluidity helps him to cover a significant part of the field in the area. Although he had no interception before 2020, he exploded last year with four choices in nine games.
Stokes added some weight to his frame over time, but he can still support being a little more physical through the stems of a receiver. He does not offer stellar upper body strength at the top of a route, and his running skills are reasonably average. Like Newsome, Stokes would be an ideal target for the Bears if they traded in 20th position, but with their stocks rising wildly, it wouldn’t be shocking if they went back to Georgia for another choice in the first round.
Paulson Adebo, Stanford
Paulson Adebo opted out of the 2020 season, but his 2018 and 2019 ribbon and ball production looks like part of a future NFL starter.
In his two seasons at Stanford, Adebo recorded 8 interceptions and 27 deflections. He has excellent route recognition skills, as he is patient in his movements and is able to mirror routes incredibly well. He shows good physicality at the scrimmage line, using his hands well at the top of the route and blocking the receptors through his rods. Adebo is a fluid defender that changes direction easily and has the flexibility in the lower body necessary to combine receivers athletically.
Having the chance to speak with Adebo on his Pro Day on Thursday, I was impressed by his football IQ:
“Especially in the NFL, you can run a route in six different ways,” Adebo told Windy City Gridiron. “You’re kind of [using] elimination process. Your guy is coming for you, you are reading from there, and then you are eliminating the different possibilities. With regard to the pre-snap, just looking down and distance, alignment – you will see on the divider, it has a wide and narrow division. Guys – this is a quick guy, a big, physical guy, what kind of release he usually does, he is someone who just speeds up, he changes, he will slide you. “
Adebo can be a little practical on the cover and its deep speed is good, but not great. The lack of the 2020 ribbon may prevent some teams from taking it any further than at the end of the second round, but make no mistake: it is legitimate. The Bears could take a look at him in the second round
Asante Samuel Jr., State of Florida
More than just the son of a professional player four times, Asante Samuel Jr. has the potential to fill the huge space that his father left for him.
Samuel is a troubled cornerback who plays the game with a lot of arrogance and high motor skills. He is active at the point of attack and plays with an advantage in running support. It offers a lot of fluidity in the cover, easily mirroring the receivers on the man and making smart falls on a route in the zone to make a play with the ball. Samuel accelerates downhill from his backpedal, as well as vertically from his brakes. With 4 interceptions and 29 deflections of pass in his name at the university level, his statistics prove his strong skills with the ball and his willingness to enter the opponent’s board to make a move.
The big concern with Samuel is his size, or the lack of him. Listed at 5 ft-10 and 184 pounds, it is lower for an external cornerback and does not have a super-filled frame. This could make him move to the next level, but if the Bears saw him as a quality cornerback on the field, he could be a target for them in the second round.
Kelvin Joseph
Kelvin Joseph is an enigmatic prospect with only one year of recording in his name, but that year of recording is legitimately impressive.
At 1.80 m and 77 kilos, Joseph has the length to project himself as a cornerback at the next level, but he is also athletic enough to play on the field as a professional. He accelerates well off his brakes and takes a quick first step down the slope of his backpedal to jump a route. Joseph’s fluidity is apparent in the film, as he smoothly shakes his hips and changes the direction of the cover. It tracks the ball like a wide receiver, exhibiting strong hands and the ability to position the ball forward and descend with it. With 4 interceptions in nine games in 2020, his ability to generate turnover was certainly apparent in his second year in the red shirt.
Joseph has only two career pass deviations to his name, which is a little worrying. It is also not as physical on the scrimmage line or on the receiver’s rods as its size would indicate. His lack of experience can also push him down on the board of some teams, but if he is available in Round 3, the Bears can go after him as a high advantage option for the secondary.