Windy City Gridiron
The versatile 4th year defensive back is primed for a breakout year under his new coaching staff.
Kyler Gordon, the first pick of Ryan Poles’ tenure as GM of the Chicago Bears, was rewarded with a lucrative contract extension entering his fourth season as a pro. Not a surprise after hearing both his new head coach and defensive coordinator speak glowingly of him this off-season.
“We are fired up to secure Kyler as a mainstay on our defense and a dependable component of our team,” Ben Johnson said after Gordon was extended. “Our staff cannot wait to get to work with Kyler.”
One of the key quotes from his new DC’s comments is when the former New Orleans Saints Head Coach said, “Hopefully we can find some more playing time for him.” Having finished last season at 67.88 percent of the total defensive snaps for the 2024 Bears, it is safe to expect that number to increase quite a bit. The question is by how much? Well, considering coach Allen has ‘Spidey’ getting reps in practice, all over - I am anticipating his snap percentage to be closer to 85-90%. Here
Some of the more versatile defenders under Dennis Allen’s time in New Orleans are Kenny Vaccaro, Malcolm Jenkins, CJ Gardner-Johnson, and Tyrann Mathieu. Of those names, really only CGGJ and ‘The Honey Badger’ stick out as DBs equally adept at stopping the run and defending the pass, both in coverage and on blitzes. In his second season, CJGJ played in just over 82% of the total defensive snaps. In all of his three seasons combined (2022, 2023, 2024), ‘The Honey Badger averaged 95% of total defensive snaps for New Orleans in Dennis Allen’s defense. The main reason is that these players can slide into many positions throughout numerous personnel groupings, much like how we have seen ‘Spidey’ deployed thus far in camp.
Considering coach Allen has also said that the CB2 spot is up for grabs, don’t be surprised if Kyler earns that role before kicking into the slot or at LB in Nickel and moving back to safety in Dime packages. All in all, expect to see much more of Kyler Gordon this season. Which means more of this:
And this:
With the way NFL defenses are seeking dynamic players who can match-up against and threaten offenses in myriad ways, expect Kyler Gordon to enter the conversation nationally with players like Kyle Hamilton (92% snap count), Josh Metellus (87%), Brian Branch (84%) and Mike Sainristil (90% as a rookie) as versatile defenders who must be accounted for each and every play. If he can stay healthy, expect Spidey to once again be featured near Disney World and Universal Studios during the next Pro Bowl in early 2026.
