Almost every Chicago Bears draft pick has been discussed in detail over the past two weeks. Darnell Wright, Gervon Dexter, Tyrique Stevenson, and Zacch Pickens were top selections. Roschon Johnson and Tyler Scott were considered steals. Noah Sewell and Terell Smith offered fascinating upside. Even Travis Bell had a cool story as the first pick ever to come out of his school. Yet there is one player that seems to have already been forgotten. He is Kendall Williamson, the Standford safety and final pick of the draft. It’s hard to tell what sold him to the Bears over other options. The best guess is this choice came from head coach Matt Eberflus.
Why? It stems from some interesting connections Williamson shares with another safety the Bears head coach knows well. During his time as defensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts, Eberflus helped draft and develop a young man named Khari Willis. He was a 4th round pick in 2019 and quickly became a starter. People might be interested to hear his scouting profile shares a lot in common with Williamson.
- Good athletic tester
- Limited production
- Questionable range in coverage
- Tough and physical presence against the run
- Immediate special teams value
The key difference between the two seems to be Willis’ consistency when it came to reading and reacting to what offenses did. Williamson sometimes struggles to play the proper run angles.
Matt Eberflus may believe he can have similar success with Williamson.
Willis was an immediate contributor for the Colts as a rookie, becoming their primary starting strong safety halfway through the season. Since then, he’s been one of their best players in the secondary. Obviously, Williamson doesn’t have the same clear path to playing time. Jaquan Brisker makes that obvious. However, the young man has the same athletic profile this defensive scheme can take advantage of. It comes down to whether the coaching staff can clean up some of the mental mistakes that held him back at Stanford.
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Seventh round picks rarely work out. It’s not like the Bears will lose too much sleep if Williams doesn’t live up to his potential. Still, it’s clear they have a vision for him. He can be a replacement for DeAndre Houston-Carson on special teams. If things go as planned for Matt Eberflus, he might be the Bears’ version of Khari Willis one or two years down the line. That wouldn’t be a bad development, giving the defense terrific depth on the back end.
