Bears training camp: 3 Most important position battles in Chicago

3. Cornerback – Kevin Toliver vs. Artie Burns vs. Jaylon Johnson

The Chicago Bears let go of Prince Amukamara this offseason, opening up the second cornerback on the outside. Kevin Toliver was the backup last season and is in the mix for the starting job. Additionally, they went out and signed Tre Roberson and Artie Burns and selected Jaylon Johnson with the 50th pick of this year’s draft.

The Bears released Roberson before camp even began so that leaves the battle between Toliver, Burns, and Johnson.

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This could be a fun battle to watch. In his two seasons with the Bears, Toliver has done a great job of filling in due to a starter’s injury. Also, he’s been a solid backup.

Burns was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-round pick (25th overall) in 2016. After having a strong rookie season (65 tackles, three interceptions), he failed to repeat that in his second season. He eventually fell out of favor with the coaches and was relegated to the bench. In his last two seasons, he recorded just 22 tackles and had no interceptions. He played in 26 games but had only 7 starts. Last season, he played on only six percent of the defensive snaps.

The Bears hope that being in this competition brings back the old Burns. He wants to resurrect his career and playing well on this elite defense will certainly do that. He has the tools to be successful, he just needs to put it all together. Remember how people were saying the same about Kyle Fuller? Look at him now.

Even if Burns or Toliver win the starting job out of camp, they’ll likely be temporary starters. Johnson appears to be the future starter at cornerback. The only question is how soon that future begins. Not having preseason games hurt his chances of starting right away, but he has all the tools to be not only a starter but also a star.

If he performs to expectations, the duo of Fuller and Johnson could be a special one. Both are athletic ballhawks and together could shut down the opposition’s passing game.

Johnson may be the future, but Burns and Toliver want to delay that future a bit.