Rookie Growth Spurt for Kyler Gordon

After struggling with great responsibility in the slot and at outside cornerback as a rookie, Kyler Gordon took advantage of a chance to play only outside

It took well into his first season before Kyler Gordon started to give obvious indications of growth as an NFL cornerback, slot or otherwise.

It's undeniable now after two interceptions in two weeks and also back-to-back games with high grades via Pro Football Focus.

"I don't know, I really feel like I'm playing extremely confident honestly," Gordon said.

The top Bears draft pick got to focus on outside cornerback rather than playing both slot cornerback and outside in Saturday's loss and his second interception and third takeaway in two games gave further indication of his development.

"I think it's great experience for him now that we've put a couple corners on IR," coach Matt Eberflus said.

In a way, they've forced the development out of Gordon. He had to produce more because of Jaylon Johnson and Kindle Vildor going on injured reserve. 

With Josh Blackwell available to move off the bench into the slot role, Gordon became an outside cornerback again and showed keeping there might be something to consider in the future, provided they have the slot cornerback spot addressed.

"For me, it's really good," Eberflus said. "It's going to expand him a little bit more. You saw the outstanding interception he had (Saturday) and he's going to have to use a different skillset out there. So, I think, to me, it's just going to help him grow."

Sportradar tracks Gordon's passer rating against this year when targeted at 100.3 with three TDs allowed and 76% completions allowed.

Those are relatively poor numbers for an outside cornerback but not necessarily for a slot, where both sides of the field are defended and there is no sideline to help provide a double-team of sorts.

Gordon moved between both areas at the outset of the season and for the bulk of the year. He admits it wasn't easy when he had to do both.

"Just the way I feel, obviously, like the first couple games me going back and forth and stuff and having a lot of stuff thrown at me you know, like, I'm just trying to be a perfectionist and do everything right but I just know, like, once I got like settled in and comfortable with everything, I feel you know I'm just comfortable and confident really.

"So those two things together usually are going to produce some takeaways and stuff. And so I'm just gonna keep doing that and keep keep going up."

With one more interception, Gordon will match Kyle Fuller's rookie interception total from 2014. He's currently tied for the most interceptions for a Bears cornerback since Fuller had seven in 2018.

"He's got high energy, he's really good at his fundamentals, his techniques," Eberflus said. "He's getting better there, and he's a ballhawk guy.

"That's why we brought him here. So he;s proven that and he's exciting to watch and I'm excited about the last two games for him."

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