Chicago Bears: Returning CB May Be Key To Secondary

The name Bryce Callahan may not ring many bells to Chicago Bears fans, but this young corner may be more important than they realize.

It would seem the coaches believe this already as they penciled in the second-year player and former undrafted free agent out of Rice as the #1 nickel corner in OTA practices.

"“When OTAs began last season, Bryce Callahan lined up as the nickel corner with the fourth team. Then an undrafted rookie out of Rice who had never played the inside corner position, Callahan was playing with the bottom-of-the-roster players."

"Whether it’s known as cliché or the line from Drake, Callahan’s progress over the past year to the point where he has spent OTAs as the team’s No. 1 nickel corner is quite the ascension.“It’s a big change for me, starting from the bottom, free agent, all that stuff,” Callahan said following Wednesday’s practice. “Coming out here and actually playing with the 1’s, it’s an eye-opener. Hard work pays off.”"

Nickel corners don’t get the same love as “outside” corners do. The Richard Shermans, Patrick Petersons, Joe Hadens and Darrelle Revis of the world grab all the glory. Nobody seems to accept the fact that teams spend the majority of their time throwing the football, which means defenses are often rolling with three corners on the field in a nickel package, making that inside slot so crucial. Just as the Denver Broncos, who had the best defense in football in 2015 and won the Super Bowl. They have the best nickel corner in the NFL in Chris Harris Jr.

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Chicago had problems at that spot all year because outside of Kyle Fuller and Tracy Porter, nobody could step up to claim that job. Sherrick McManis fell flat (again). Terrance Mitchell was more of a preseason wonder. Demontre Hurst spent most of his time at safety. Time showed that Callahan was the lynch pin to everything and it’s proven in the results.

As a rookie he played in nine games and started three of them. He hardly saw action the first six weeks of the year due to his inexperience and place on the depth chart. After the bye though he got his chance, compiling 21 tackles, a sack and four pass deflections. In the three games he started they were 2-1. As a team the Bears were 3-4 and giving up 17.4 points per game in the seven games he saw significant snaps on the field. The other nine that he either didn’t play much or missed due to injury they were 3-6 and giving up 29.1 points per game.

This is not to say Callahan was the sole reason for this improvement, but it’s hard to ignore that the defense was better when he was on the field. Chicago Bears fans should keep that in mind the next time they see #37 lined up in the slot. One can only hope he manages to stay on the field and prove it beyond a doubt this time.