This should be a straightforward question for any defensive coordinator: How many of your dozen or so cornerbacks do you trust?
“I’m still not sure yet,” the Bears’ Alan Williams said Sunday. “I’m really not. I think I know where you’re going: You may say, ‘Well, is that Jaylon Johnson? Has he earned it?’ None of our guys has played an entire ballgame.
“Right now, we’re still looking. We’ll see who can get there and earn the trust. I always say it’s a bank account. Can you fill up that bank account with trust in how you play and be consistent? And then we’ll go from there.”
OK then, with the season less than three weeks away, whose bank account is biggest?
“I’m not sure who makes that much money,” Williams quipped. “I know what you’re asking. I’ll stay away from that right now. None of them has a big enough bank account that they get to do what they want to right now. None of them right now.”
Let’s fill in some blanks on the ledger.
While Williams makes a valid point that players must earn credibility with him during real games, Johnson has banked plenty of it the last two seasons. He’s one of the few surefire things about this team amid the rebuild.
And rookie Kyler Gordon, the team’s top draft pick at No. 39 overall and No. 6 at his position, has shown enough between his college track record and his impressive training camp at nickel that he qualifies for a loan.
But after those two? That’s probably the real reason it’s tough for Williams to answer.
This team saw how it went last season with Johnson and a bunch of question marks.
The Bears allowed the highest passer rating in the NFL and in franchise history at 103.3, the equivalent of making opposing quarterbacks look like Tom Brady, on average. They also gave up the third-most yards and touchdown passes and snared the fourth-fewest interceptions.
That debacle happened despite having the benefit of a pass rush that was fourth in sacks. It was the second-highest passer rating allowed in a season by a team that had at least 45 sacks.
Johnson was the Bears’ only corner who kept quarterbacks below 60% completions.
The secondary was being lit up every week.
No matter what defense the Bears run or who’s coaching them, they need reliable cornerbacks. Coach Matt Eberflus can’t scheme around being shaky at that position.
What is Kindle Vildor’s balance after a season in which opponents completed nearly 70% of their passes against him? Or Duke Shelley’s after allowing 74%?
Tavon Young hasn’t been a full-time starter since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in 2017. Thomas Graham, a sixth-round pick last year, played only four games as a rookie. Lamar Jackson — not the one you’re thinking of — spent almost all of last season on the Jets’ practice squad.
If cornerback proves to be a liability for the defense, the ripple effect could hurt quarterback Justin Fields in a season that’s crucial to his development.
One of the best ways the Bears can help Fields is to set him up for success with takeaways. Many of the best quarterbacks had that in their favor during their breakout seasons.
The Bears have been 22nd or worse in takeaways the last three seasons. The last time they were good, leading the NFL with 36 in 2018, it was enough to make Mitch Trubisky viable. The season before, the Eagles and Rams were top five in takeaways and propped up Carson Wentz and Jared Goff, respectively.
Fields remains the most important person at Halas Hall, and every potential problem with this roster will affect him in some way. So the Bears had better hope their cornerbacks other than Johnson start making deposits.
