Basic supervisor Ryan Poles has made quite a lot of strikes to boost the Chicago Bears secondary since he took over in January 2022. In last 12 months’s draft, he added cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker throughout the second spherical. And late last month, he used one different second-round resolve on Tyrique Stevenson, a 6-foot, 198-pound cornerback who carried out two seasons at Georgia and two at Miami.
Now Stevenson is predicted to compete for participating in time at nook with Gordon and Jaylon Johnson.
Miami secondary coach Jahmile Addae coached Stevenson for his final season with the Hurricanes, all through which Stevenson had two interceptions and 9 passes defended.
Addae spoke with the Tribune this month to share his experiences working with Stevenson. Right here’s that interview, edited for readability.
Observe: This is part of a set of conversations with the school place coaches of this 12 months’s Bears draft picks.
What type of participant are the Bears getting in Tyrique?
They’re getting an aggressive, edgy, multifaceted participant. There’s some untapped potential even this far into points. He’s nonetheless rising in his craft, nevertheless as I see it, he’s able to help in quite a lot of positions, which clearly gives worth at that diploma. However he’s going to be fiery. He’s going to compete his ass off when the ball is throughout the air. He’s going to be bodily on the extent of assault. He’s going to know the place he should line up — and all people else spherical him. Simply holistically an excellent soccer participant.
He talked about he and Bears coach Matt Eberflus talked about him being old school by means of his physicality. What did you see from him in that regard?
Yeah, I consider he would slot in throughout the old-school days of no chin straps and no face masks. He’s a tough youngster, and he’s not contact-shy the least bit. That’s refreshing to see, significantly on the nook place. Typically they label these guys as of late as safety corners, and he’s not that. In reality, he almost definitely has merely as lots of a safety skill set whereas having fun with nook as I’ve seen since I’ve been educating. It may very well be truthful to say it’s worded the suitable method when you occur to would label him as an old-school, sort of throwback participant by means of his psychological make-up and physicality of the game.
You talked about he hasn’t reached his full potential however. What do you see as his subsequent steps in his development?
The psychological side is on a regular basis one factor you might get increased at. In order that’s on a regular basis going to be there mentally. However I consider nook is a spot that in case your strategy is lacking you may be uncovered. And he does a extraordinarily, truly good job of having fun with through strategy, nevertheless there’ll doubtless be some events the place he’ll get on himself on account of presumably he’s inconsistent by means of a manner he’s attempting, whether or not or not or not it’s a bounce jam on the road of scrimmage or a feather strategy on the road of scrimmage or coming out of the break house. I merely suppose technically as a nook you presumably can on a regular basis proceed to clean up your craft. I consider he’s no utterly totally different. However I moreover suppose there’s upside by means of having fun with slot nook and possibly at safety, too, and within the occasion that they’ve been to ever put him there, I do suppose that on account of he doesn’t have that lots of a physique of labor that he would proceed to develop in that and get increased the entire whereas. As a result of he hadn’t carried out that place technically for us outdoor of sub packages, nevertheless he’s succesful for my part.
In your 12 months with him at Miami, did you feel like he grew?
Oh, yeah. … A 12 months up to now, I don’t know that he was being talked about throughout the first or second rounds. However since getting proper right here — and that’s not for me to toot my horn — he’s labored his butt off to make it happen. However he has gotten increased the entire whereas. You possibly can see the event from the day we started camp to the ultimate recreation. By no means glorious, correct? However on a regular basis working to be there and positively progress between the time we started and the time he purchased out the door.
The Bears talked about he’d almost definitely start off at outdoor nook. However you suppose he’s capable of having fun with throughout the slot and at safety on the NFL diploma?
Just a little bit little little bit of his background: When he was on the College of Georgia, he carried out nickel. So he’s already carried out it … and had some success as a slot nook as an actual freshman for Georgia. After I purchased proper right here to the College of Miami, he was having fun with nook, which clearly he carried out correctly there as correctly. So he has a physique of labor at every positions. Any time you play nickel, you and the safety behind you’re truly tied in, so the pure improvement is that if a person can play nickel, he must on the very least know what the safety is doing, being that these two are interchangeable components and work collectively. So I positively suppose alongside together with his tempo, dimension and physicality that it may be no downside for him to maneuver once more to play safety. We didn’t do this with him on account of he was worth further to us being outdoor on the nook place. However had I had a roster the place I felt good about one different nook having fun with at that place, it may not have been hateful to maneuver him once more to play and have the flexibility to overlap the sector as correctly.
What’s he like off the sector?
Actually solely a homebody. A few of our youthful guys used to mess with him (about it). … He doesn’t exit a complete bunch. You’d suppose typical Miami youngster, presumably dangle round, have an excellent time. He’s within the dwelling hanging out. He has a sister who has just some children. He would help his sister with elevating them. Has a complete lot of family on this house, so spent a complete lot of time spherical them. I can’t recall a time that anyone would say he had ever concurrently lots stepped proper right into a social event. In phrases of the soccer side, he’s not very outspoken. He’s not quiet each. He spoke when spoken to. However he’s not a loud, rah-rah man. He’s further practically being quiet, shutting up and dealing.
Do you’ve got a favorite recreation or second of his that stood out to you?
I’m almost definitely going to wish to say the Virginia Tech recreation. It was a extraordinarily gradual start for us. We weren’t having fun with as correctly. It was the first time I truly seen him make a mature switch and type of seize the group and get after them just a bit bit on the sideline by means of merely guaranteeing the eye self-discipline is true, guaranteeing they’re making the proper communication and checks and whatnot. I assumed that was cool to see on account of coming out of Georgia the knock on him was his administration ability wasn’t there, so to see that half flourish and proceed to develop all by way of the season from that point on, I consider he felt, what, ‘That is my unit, and I’ve began working to steer these guys.’ And he was able to take motion.
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