Windy City Gridiron
The Bears signed C.J. Gardner-Johnson a mere 12 days ago, mostly in desperation, and it’s hard to believe the degree of impact he has already provided. Through two games, he has 12 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 FF, and a ton of energy within a unit that was hanging on by a thread.
A reminder – the Bears have been hit hard by the injury bug in their secondary.
It’s hard to survive when you are running out 3rd stringers in your secondary. Enter C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Many of us already know Gardner-Johnson due to his “irritator” status across the league. He was infamously punched by Bears legend Javon Wims, and dealt with a variety of team fit and injury issues in Philadelphia, Detroit, and most recently Houston.
While his personality was fairly or unfairly questioned at times, his production has never been an issue. In 79 career games, he has accumulated 18 INTs, 51 PDs, 3 FFs, 7 sacks, 25 TFLs, and 334 total tackles. If the start of his Bears career is any indication, then he is clearly a versatile piece with a nose for making impact plays.
At the time of the signing, many fans viewed him as a stopgap solution to provide a veteran presence while we got healthy. Now, there are fans already asking that we extend him.
His fit within the defense is obvious while Kyler Gordon rehabs – a slot CB that can cover twitchy WRs, stand up physically to TEs, and be an effective blitzer off of the edge. But when Gordon comes back, a player who is largely the same scheme fit in Dennis Allen’s defense, is there still room for Gardner-Johnson on the field?
My answer? You have to say yes until he shows you otherwise. Now, I am not saying that Kyler Gordon should be benched in favor of Gardner-Johnson – that would be a big mistake. However, I think that Dennis Allen is smart enough to scheme them both into significant roles on the defense. To me, it looks like this:
