Halfway through the season, it’s becoming clear which NFL teams did alright for themselves in the 2020 NFL draft. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a pair of possible budding stars in Tristan Wirfs and Antoine Winfield Jr. Minnesota somehow instantly replaced Stefon Diggs with Justin Jefferson. On top of that, #1 overall pick Joe Burrow is living up to the hype in Cincinnati. Unsurprisingly it’s the 1st round picks getting the attention. Yet that hasn’t stopped the Chicago Bears.
Their 2020 class wasn’t supposed to deliver much of anything. GM Ryan Pace had no 1st rounder thanks to the Khalil Mack trade. All he had were two 2nd rounders. After that, it was nothing before the 5th round thanks to other deals. Anybody with common sense needed to keep their expectations under control Maybe the Bears might find one decent contributor in that group.
Nobody could’ve imagined they’d find three.
That seems to be the case. Draft expert Dane Brugler of The Athletic released his midseason All-Rookie team for this season. While the Bears didn’t headline the column, they were sprinkled throughout it. Top pick Cole Kmet and 5th rounder Darnell Mooney were both honorable mentions at tight end and wide receiver respectively.
Yet it was 2nd rounder Jaylon Johnson out of Utah who took the big prize. He claimed the top spot in the cornerback category. Somebody Brugler believes is already one of the better man coverage guys in the NFL and a kid who should only get better.
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“Although he is still searching for his first NFL interception, Johnson is tied for the rookie lead with 10 passes defended, and he has one of the best burn rates (50.0 percent) among all first-year players. He also rarely leaves the field, ranking top five among all NFL players in defensive snaps.
If he wants to hold onto this top spot, he will need to cut down on the penalties (four) and turn the break-ups into turnovers in the second half of the season. Regardless, he has proven to be reliable versus the run and one of the highest-graded man-to-man corners through eight games.”
Chicago Bears overachieved in the 2020 draft
Johnson has looked outstanding this year. Though he doesn’t personally have an interception yet, two of his pass defenses directly led to ones for Kyle Fuller and Tashaun Gipson respectively. What’s scary is the kid arrived in Chicago recovering from shoulder surgery and didn’t have much of an offseason to prepare. He’s also 21-years old. He might just be scratching the surface of his ability.
Some people may not be happy with Kmet because he hasn’t become a major factor in the passing game. Just six catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. To be fair that’s not all his fault. He’s only been targeted eight times. So he’s making the most of his chances. Where he really stands out is his blocking. His improvement there is evident every week and becoming more valuable as the Bears offensive line continues to struggle.
Then there is Mooney.
He’s easily the biggest surprise of the entire Chicago Bears class and maybe the 2020 class in general. An undersized kid out of Tulane, all anybody knew about him was he had a pretty good time in the 40-yard dash at the scouting combine. A 4.38. That suggested he was pretty fast. Beyond that? Expectations were low.
It didn’t take long to find out Mooney was much more than he appeared. Aside from the speed, he is a deceptively sharp route runner. Somebody who pays attention to the details. This is why he now ranks second on the team with 305 yards. Not to mention his two touchdowns. His strong start has some seeing visions of a young DeSean Jackson.
If that’s the case? Chicago scored huge in this draft.
