Chicago Bears 25 Most important players of 2024: #19 Kevin Byard

We continue our series profiling the 25 most important Chicago Bears players. At number 19 we have safety Kevin Byard.

We are one day closer to the start of the Chicago Bears training camp. The team recently announced that rookies report on July 16th while veterans report on July 19th. While we wait, we continue our series profiling the 25 most important players for 2024. We are at number 19, safety Kevin Byard.

For the past seven seasons, the Chicago Bears had Eddie Jackson man the free safety spot. He was an exciting player who was a ball hawk. In his first three seasons, he was one of the most dominant safeties in the NFL. He had 9 interceptions, 5 fumble recoveries, and 4 forced fumbles. Of his 12 turnovers, he returned 5 of them for touchdowns.

He had some struggles in the next two seasons. He recorded zero interceptions and just one fumble recovery. He started to bounce back in 2022, recording 4 interceptions. It seemed like he was on his way back. However, an injury derailed his season. In 2023, he again struggled with injury. He had one interception and looked a step slower. His season was once again cut short.

The Chicago Bears decided that they could not continue to hope that Jackson was over his injury problems. They waived him in the offseason. They began a search for a new safety. Instead of looking at the draft, they decided on signing Byard. Byard is similar to Jackson, and he also had success.

With Jackson struggling lately with interceptions, Byard has continued success. He has 28 interceptions to Jackson’s 15. He has been effective in the last two seasons,

recording 5 interceptions and a fumble recovery. In addition, he had consecutive seasons with 100+ tackles totaling 230.

One area in which Byard is better than Jackson is tackling. Jackson was not a good tackler. He had many missed tackles. In his career, he recorded double-digit missed tackle percentages. His best season was in 2021 when his percentage was 9.5 percent.

Byard, on the other hand, is a very good tackler. He never recorded double-digit missed tackle percentages in his career. His highest percentage came in 2018 when it was 7.2 percent. In 2023, his missed tackle percentage was 3.9 percent. That is crucial. There were times when Jackson’s missed tackles resulted in big touchdowns.

Byard can do a better job of stopping the ball carrier short. Not only will it result in fewer touchdowns but also stop drives. The Chicago Bears could depend on him to stop the opponent short of the sticks. On a defensive unit that looks to be an elite group, that is very important.

Additionally, the coaches can move Byard around. He has experience at both the free and strong safety spots. It gives the defense some flexibility.

It will be interesting to see how Byard and strong safety Jaquan Brisker complement each other. Brisker and Jackson worked very well together. Jackson was a good mentor for Brisker and Brisker was good enough for Jackson to just concentrate on being a ball hawk. It was no coincidence that Jackson started recording multiple interceptions when Brisker came around.

Byard can be a good mentor for Brisker. The fact that he is healthier than Jackson allows him to do more helping on the field. There is no substitute for learning during actual games instead of just during practice.

Hopefully, Byard continues his good play. With the talent on the defense, he does not have to be an All-Pro. He just needs to continue his solid play. There is a lot of talent on the Chicago Bears’ defense. He will have the opportunity to make big plays.

Additionally, Byard is a smart player and a great leader. He will have no problem calling out a teammate to hold him accountable.

The Chicago Bears’ defense was opportunistic in 2023. It took advantage of the opposing quarterback’s mistakes. While the pass rush still had its troubles, it improved when Sweat came aboard. If the Bears put more pressure on the quarterback this season, the secondary is filled with players who can take advantage. That included Byard.

With a young, up-and-coming Chicago Bears defense, Byard is a great addition. He will fit in and help some of the young players. He could be instrumental in taking the unit to the heights they expect to achieve. We could see the return of the Monsters of the Midway.

Previous rankings: #25: Tory Taylor  #24: Velus Jones  #23: Jack Sanborn  #22: Gerald Everett  #21: Kyler Gordon  #20: Cairo Santos

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