Kyler Gordon has the versatility to play outside and the nickel. But the Bears want him to have a singular focus as he starts his NFL career.
Given the importance of the nickel back in the modern NFL, Gordon might eventually be more valuable in the slot than the outside. However, the complexity of the nickel back position likely will see Gordon stay at outside corner during his rookie season unless Williams sees fit to alter the course.
"The nickel is probably the hardest position on the football field," Williams said."It used to be that the nickel was the twelfth guy or the thirteenth guy that you'd have. Now in today's football, when you have so much sub or 11 personnel, that guy is a starter. That guy is a critical piece of the defense, and that guy has to do a lot of things. He's got to fit like a linebacker and a safety. He's got to cover like a corner.
"So, to have him go outside and inside, it's tough on a rookie. So, to stick him in one place and let him go and develop and learn and feel comfortable, right now, that's the plan. But that's the plan to be determined. I get to change it when need be if we need to." Cornerback is one of the most difficult positions to find an instant-impact rookie in the NFL. But Gordon, who hails from an NFL defensive back factory at the University of Washington, is confident he can immediately push for a starting spot and help make the Bears better in 2022.
"Yeah, I feel pretty prepared, very prepared coming from Washington just like everything that they taught me in the way that I prepare myself game to game and person to person and just every category," Gordon said Friday."So, I just know that my preparation transition is the same thing I'm going to carry over to the NFL, and then while adding more tools and more stuff that I can learn.