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Kyler Gordon already sharing some similarities with all-time great CB

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Vince Carbonneau
July 12, 2022 (10:21)

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Adam Jahns of The Athletic had the chance to interview the Bears' secondary coach James Rowe. He was raving about his newest cornerback Kyler Gordon that was drafted with the 39th overall pick in this year's draft.

«I wouldn't say I've had one quite like (Gordon),» Rowe said. «Kenny Moore has good short-area quickness. Kyler's might be a tad better, but Kenny was a longer player. Out of the guys I have coached, no, I wouldn't say anyone has the short-area quickness that I'm seeing from him right now. Probably DeAngelo hall, but I coached the older DeAngelo hall. that's my buddy, so leave that one out.»

I know that hearing the name DeAngelo Hall can bring very bad memories to Bears fans. The tragic event occurred on Oct. 24, 2010. As a member of the Redskins, Hall intercepted Bears QB Jay Cutler four times that afternoon. Washington pulled off a 17-14 upset at Soldier Field, and Hall picked up (picked off?) NFC defensive player of the week honors.

"If I could have played against Jay Cutler more, I probably would be in the Hall of Fame by now, but it didn't quite work out," said Hall, who finished with 43 career INTs, though his final one came in 2013.

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However, I still like that Gordon is being compared to him. He was a great player nonetheless. As for Grond, he was clearly one of the best value picks in the second round of the draft. Gordon was projected by over 50% of the experts to be a first-round pick. It was great to see him still available at pick 139.

Bears area scout Francis St. Paul feels that one of Gordon's greatest attributes as a player is his fluid movement skills.

"He's an elite mover," St. Paul said. "His change of direction. His feet. Ball skills. Those are some of the [things] that stuck out."

"This is a guy, when you speak with him, you'll see he's very calm," St. Paul said. "Corners, you've got to forget about the last play, because you will get beat. And he's one of the guys, that if he gets beat, it didn't bother him at all and he came back and competed for more on the next play."

I like this assessment of Gordon and I have to agree with him. I think the mindset aspect is very key. For a cornerback, so much plays in the head. All great cornerbacks in NFL history all have a great mindset and, hopefully, Gordon follows suit!

Here is NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein's description of Gordon:

"Cornerback who comes with an elite, high-performance engine but a GPS still in the process of loading. Gordon's dynamic athletic qualities will show up in testing, but more importantly, they are all over his tape. His blend of play strength and explosive burst affects the passing game from press, off-man and zone coverages. He plays with an alpha demeanor and hitting is definitely part of his overall package. Gordon lacks polish and needs to play with better route recognition and anticipation, but if those elements click, his ball production could be near the top of the league as one of the top playmakers in the game."

Previously on LetsBearDown

Adam rank and James Jones arguing about Bears/Packers is HILARIOUS

Jim McMahon came extremely close to losing his foot

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