The Chicago Bears made several roster decisions that people agreed with going into the 2021 season. One that hasn’t? Their work at cornerback. Specifically in regards to the decision on keeping Kindle Vildor as the starter opposite Jaylon Johnson. The former 5th round pick first saw the field late last season as a rookie. Since then his play could best be called inconsistent.
He had some rough games against Minnesota, Jacksonville, and New Orleans but also stepped up against Green Bay. Too often it felt like opponents were picking on him. Not a huge surprise given his rookie status. However, that hasn’t changed much. During his brief stints in the preseason, Vildor still had trouble preventing quarterbacks from finding completions at his expense. To say nothing of two missed tackles he had as well.
Despite this, the Bears doubled down on him.
How? By cutting veteran Desmond Trufant. The guy many thought was the favorite to replace Kyle Fuller opposite Johnson. This was a clear message from the team that they believe in Vildor. They’ve spoken highly of him at every opportunity and believe he can take a big step forward this season. Have they lost their minds? Not everybody thinks so. Dan Pompei of The Athletic spoke to an NFL scout about him and he believes the 23-year old is capable of becoming exactly what the team envisions. All he needs is time.
Scout A said Vildor has shown signs of becoming a solid starter.
“He doesn’t have prototypical size, but there is a toughness and grittiness to him to overcome minor deficiencies,” he said. “He has instincts. It’s a matter of him getting experience and showing it week after week.”
This scout isn’t the first person to mention this exact assessment on Vildor. Former Bears personnel director Greg Gabriel said the same thing last week. He believes the physical capability is there. Athleticism, toughness, and physicality. It is a matter of Vildor finding the discipline and consistency to handle NFL receivers. Something that can take time to master. One thing is for sure. He is going to get a major education in the coming weeks.
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#Bears CB Kindle Vildor is playing with a lot more confidence in his second training camp. Good, physical play here: pic.twitter.com/EmCTcIjGQJ
— Bryan Perez (@BryanPerezNFL) August 9, 2021
Kindle Vildor will face off with some top tier receivers
It starts off with Week 1 on Sunday night against the likes of Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods. From there it doesn’t get any easier. Odell Beckham Jr. in Week 3. Davante Adams in Week 6. Antonio Brown in Week 7. There will be no easing into this season. It will be good quarterbacks and good receivers almost from start to finish. This kid better be ready because there will be no mercy shown.
Maybe that is for the best. The Bears need to know what they have on defense going into this season because it’s likely a considerable purge of their veteran core is coming. Akiem Hicks is a free agent. Danny Trevathan and Robert Quinn are likely cuts. GM Ryan Pace has to know what sort of young players he has to retool the unit. Roquan Smith and Bilal Nichols are obvious ones. Johnson as well. Is Kindle Vildor in that mix? Not yet.
He has to earn it.
It is nice to see the Bears are giving him that opportunity. Some teams wouldn’t be willing to go out on a limb like that for a 5th round pick. This shows they trust their draft evaluations on him and believe he can become what they envision. The rest is up to the player. If he flops? One can safely assume the team will be active at cornerback next offseason.