Bears draft CB Kyler Gordon (Washington) 39th overall

[CBears019]

 

 

Bio:

Gordon was a top 25-ranked cornerback nationally out of Archbishop Murphy High School in Washington, where he racked up more than 1,300 yards from scrimmage as a senior. He redshirted in 2018 but played in four games as a reserve (two tackles). Gordon earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors in each of the next two seasons despite being stuck behind loads of talent in the Huskies' secondary. He played in all 13 games with four starts in 2019 (32 tackles, four pass breakups) and played in all four games with one start in 2020 (18 tackles, one pass breakup). Pac-12 coaches voted Gordon and fellow UW corner Trent McDuffie as first-team All-Pac-12 defenders in 2021 (46 tackles, two for loss, two interceptions, team-high seven pass breakups in 12 starts). -- by Chad Reuter

Overview:

Cornerback who comes with an elite, high-performance engine but a GPS still in the process of loading. Gordon's dynamic athletic qualities will show up in testing, but more importantly, they are all over his tape. His blend of play strength and explosive burst affects the passing game from press, off-man and zone coverages. He plays with an alpha demeanor and hitting is definitely part of his overall package. Gordon lacks polish and needs to play with better route recognition and anticipation, but if those elements click, his ball production could be near the top of the league as one of the top playmakers in the game.

Strengths

• Well-equipped to play cornerback or nickel.
• Possesses dynamic athleticism.
• Size and strength are prominent in his play.
• Fluidity buoyed by harmony of hips and feet.
• Fully capable from press and off coverages.
• Pattern matches and undercuts the breaks.
• Decisive and explosive in reactive movements.
• Consistently targets playmaking angles on most throws.
• Plant-and-drive juice is on a different level.
• Times downfield ball search to receiver's eyes.
• Will be highly disruptive as run blitzer from the slot.
• Plays with dog mentality and strikes with aggression.

Weaknesses

• Still working on technical aspects of the position.
• Instincts are average.
• Coverage can get a little too cute at times.
• Needs to limit his latch-and-ride hands underneath.
• Doesn't fully trust his eyes just yet.
• Misses too many tackles after the catch.
• Will need to balance urgency with patience.

Sources Tell Us

"He's a ridiculous tester and athlete and he's going to go in the first (round), but I think he needs more seasoning before he's ready to start." -- Area scout for NFC team

 

 

https://www.nfl.com/prospects/kyler-gordon/3200474f-5219-8616-e177-4605181465d0

[Epyon]

I actually liked this pick. Zone corner for a primarily zone defense.

[Heinz D.]

48 minutes ago, Epyon said:

I actually liked this pick. 

I'm torn.

Love the player--not sure it was the Bears #1 need. At all. 

I'm more than comfortable with Brisker, however. And it was an outright steal where they got him. 

[Bowler1215]

We needed help in the secondary, but we also needed to help Fields.  That being said, I like this pick 

[AZBearsFan]

1 hour ago, Heinz D. said:

Love the player--not sure it was the Bears #1 need. At all. 

IMO a boundary corner was their #1 defensive need by a lot. 

[Heinz D.]

10 hours ago, AZBearsFan said:

IMO a boundary corner was their #1 defensive need by a lot. 

Respectfully disagree--pretty clear to me that safety was easily their biggest need on defense. 

However...can't disagree that they needed another corner. But over a guard? Or the WRs that were available? I dunno. 

The Gordon pick doesn't piss me off, though. He's a great player, and it was clearly a need. I'm not enraged like when Pace declined to address QB and OL a couple of years ago. 

[soulman]

Top shelf CB from a school that turns out CB like Iowa turns out OL.

We all know from last season that Vildor was not the answer.  Apparently they feel Graham isn't either although I do believe Graham might make a very good Slot CB.  You cannot like the pick but you cannot not like the player.  (how's that for twisted syntax)

[dll2000]

I watched bleacher report for draft and they had Richard Sherman on who was raving about this kid.  

He said he has known him and trained with him.  He said he has gone against NFL WRs in offseason including DK Metcalf since 19 and held his own.  

He never looked like he didn’t belong.  

[BeaReylo]

 

[Sugashane]

Huge win as far as talent. He was my #4 CB and I had him pegged as a top 15-25 player. Didn't think he'd make it out of the first.

Really wish we could have helped on offense but CB was the biggest need on defense IMO. Safeties are easier to find and easier to hide than CBs by a mile. Johnson and Gordon can be a hell of a duo.

 

[Madmike90]

 

 

[dll2000]

20 minutes ago, Madmike90 said:

 

 

That is good news.   Really good when a coach says it after a draft.   

A lot of times they talk up their players predraft to help them and the program and aren't honest in their opinion.

 

 

[dll2000]

I think it got deleted but Richard Sherman said he trained with this kid for years and he is real deal.

He said they would do 7 on 7s with NFL WRs including DK Metcalf and he looked fine.  Totally belonged.

 

[G08]

Love the pick the more I watch the kid play, tough little ****.

[JAF-N72EX]

I've been watching a lot of his games these last few days and while I do still think there were better corners at the time I've also warmed up to him. 

Booth is the better overall corner with better ball skills and a better fit for Flus' scheme IMO. But he's also an injury risk, isn't as sound of a tackler in the open field, and Gordon's superior closing speed allows him to recover faster.  I think Booth is a great fit for Donatell's defense that likes to play alot of man coverage and mix it up with heavy blitzing, but I also think he would've been a great fit for Flus as well due to his versatility. Since there's not much a gap between them, I wonder if the injury concerns became the deciding factor. Although we'll never know.

Anyhow, I'm getting off track. I'm starting to like the Gordon and Brisker picks more than I did a few days ago. I'm starting to see what Poles and Flus were going for here. Poles/Flus recognized a defense that was good in pass rush but was bad in coverage and that's what they were trying to address. There were better secondary players available than pass rushers. And since it's a passing league.....you gotta stop the pass. I don't fully agree with the approach but I understand it.

I think Gordon is a good fit for Flus' defense. He played mostly boundary last year (right), which is perfect so Jaylon can play the left like he did in college, but he can also line up in the slot in sub packages if need be (if/when Tavon gets hurt) while Graham takes over outside. He can play both zone and man almost as equally as good as the other but seems to be better in zone (which is good for a heavy zone scheme like Flus'). His bail technique and reaction time doesn’t often allow deep threats to win over the top--which would be a good change of Pace from last year. He has good instincts and play recognition--I can't remember if it was the Oregon or Arizona game but there was one play where I swear he knew the offensive play before the snap and used that info to bait the QB into throwing it his coverage and he would've picked it off but the throw was terrible.

The worst part of his game that worries me the most is how handsy he is downfield. Especially in Flus' scheme which is heavy zone with very little blitzing. He has good technique while trailing but he also uses his hands too much to track WRs and that's a problem in the NFL. This isn't college. NFL players are faster, smarter, and better at stopping on a dime on those hitch/curl/drag routes, and if your being too handsy with them then your going to get flagged ALOT. Which is what I'm afraid of. Or at worst, WRs will use this against you. Flus only likes to use 4 rushers so what happens when the front-4 struggle to get pressure and he has to keep up with WRs for 4-5 seconds? He can't keep playing patty-cake with the receiver.

This is a coachable flaw in his game though. I remember years ago Peanut used to get flagged a lot. And he mentioned this in the past about him having the same issue in college and how certain Bears staff (don't remember their specific names) help him with that in order to fine tune his game. The point is, if Flus is half the DC we all hope he is then that major flaw in Gordon's game can be fixed.

Line in him up in 7-7 drills against Mooney and track their progression. If Getsy is half the coach we hope he is, and Mooney is the player we all hope he is, then we'll see what all of them got simultaneously.

 

 

Edited May 4, 2022 by JAF-N72EX