It was a minor surprise when the Chicago Bears drafted Jaquan Brisker in April. Not because he wasn’t projected to go that soon. Quite the contrary. Many felt the Penn State safety should’ve gone in the 1st round. The surprise was him being the second defensive player to go to the Bears in that round—no offensive selections. GM Ryan Poles explained his reasoning. While he wanted to help the offense, the board simply fell that way. He couldn’t in good conscience pass on a player like Brisker for offensive options he deemed nowhere as capable. It is also possible Matt Eberflus was a major advocate of the safety.
Chicago’s new head coach is a defensive guy who runs a system that needs capable players at that position. However, there may have been an added motivation. Brisker was almost a Toledo guy. He revealed on “Meet The Rookies” that he initially committed to the program coming out of high school before shifting to junior college in hopes he might land a spot at a bigger program down the line. Eberflus played and coached at Toledo in his younger years. It is always fun to find little connections like this.
Jaquan Brisker and Eberflus are from the same stock.
They were born in places only 231 miles apart. Each approached the game of football the same way. Eberflus was known for his intelligence and violence as a linebacker. Sure enough, Brisker showcased the same during his rapid rise at Penn State. The Bears head coach no doubt saw glimpses of himself when watching the safety work. So when the opportunity came for the team to draft Brisker, it was an easy thing to sign off on.
Early returns make the pick look even better. Jaquan Brisker dominated both OTAs and veteran minicamps. It is clear that he’s the heavy favorite to start opposite Eddie Jackson when the regular season arrives in September. The challenge for the Bears is getting him to sign his contract. He remains the only rookie unsigned with training camp less than a week away. It is exciting to wonder how Eberflus plans to use the safety when the real games begin.
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Contract will be done quickly. Just a very minor holdup. Can’t wait to see the new guys and the new D as well as the new O on fakegamedays.
I’m curious to know what’s the hold up with the contract situation? I hope this doesn’t become a distraction, a la Roquan Smith’s rookie contract situation.
These articles are dumb and fyi it was a Major Surprise picking defense not minor. We will find out in a couple years if he picked correctly