One thing about ESPN never changes. They’ll always find a way to take thinly-veiled shots at the Chicago Bears. Their company has disrespected the organization for years, most often through the method of ignoring their top players in various rankings. While they’ve had many egregious ones, their latest might be the worst of all. It involved a column by Matt Miller and Jordan Reid detailing the biggest NFL draft steals of the past decade. Their list included 50 players. Not one of them was Eddie Jackson.
For a refresher, the Bears took Bojack in the 4th round of the 2017 draft. So that falls within the necessary timeline. He made two Pro Bowls, was All-Pro in 2018, and had a terrific 2022 with four interceptions in just 12 games. Yet he was somehow left off the list. He wasn’t even given an honorable mention. Meanwhile, these were the safeties that did crack it.
- Tyrann Mathieu (3rd round)
- Kevin Byard (2nd round)
- Justin Simmons (3rd round)
- Quandre Diggs (6th round)
- Budda Baker (2nd round)
With all due respect, including two 2nd round picks in a ranking of biggest steals feels disingenuous. People had reasonably high expectations of Byard and Baker. It’s not like their becoming stars was a shock. Nobody saw Jackson coming, especially since he arrived in the NFL with a broken leg.
Eddie Jackson is a victim of recency bias.
There is no doubt ESPN is holding his 2020 and 2021 seasons against him. He struggled those years, failing to record a single interception. While the lull was unfortunate, he proved last year that he was still the same ballhawk he’d always been. Maybe he simply needed the right defensive system to bring it out. That wasn’t enough. It might also be a safe assumption the poor performance of the Bears defense last season overshadowed his contributions. Either way, it’s hard not to feel this list is valid.
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One thing is for sure. Eddie Jackson already had enough motivation for the upcoming season. He missed five games with his foot injury. Many wonder if he might start his decline. No doubt he’s eager to show them otherwise. This slight by ESPN is the perfect extra bit of juice he’ll need to get through training camp. Don’t be surprised if he makes a statement early this season, perhaps even on opening night against Green Bay.
