Chicago Bears mock draft: Alontae Taylor, CB, Tennessee
Another area on defense the Chicago Bears need to address is at cornerback. Jaylon Johnson did a good job replacing Kyle Fuller as CB1, but without much help around him, opposing quarterbacks didn’t target him much.
A quick glance at the numbers and you’ll see that maybe the Bears’ secondary wasn’t so bad. They ranked third in the league in passing yards allowed. A big reason for that, however, had to do with the pass rush. The Bears ranked fourth in the league with 49 sacks (led by Robert Quinn’s franchise-record 18.5). That covered up the holes in the secondary.
When opposing quarterbacks had time to throw, they consistently made big plays downfield. The corners weren’t able to keep up with receivers and got burned deep too many times.
Alontae Taylor, a 6-foot, 195-pound cornerback, has the length to succeed at the pro level. He also has a lot of tools to work with. He has good speed so he can stay with receivers.
For those of you who love the Bears and their Monsters of the Midway moniker, Taylor fits right in. He is a physical player who has a great first strike in press coverage. He is able to disrupt the receiver’s route.
Taylor recognizes plays and routes early and is able to make plays on them. Additionally, his length allows him to break up passes behind him. His competitiveness and effort are great assets against the run.
Taylor has the confidence you want in a cornerback. He’ll get into the receiver’s face and smack talk and feels he can make every play. Furthermore, he has a short memory. If he does get beat, it’s forgotten right away.
Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus want to return to the good old days when the Chicago Bears were physical at every position. Teams loathed having to play them for fear of getting beat up. Taylor would help bring those days back.