A tip of the cap to the Chicago Bears social media team, which is doing a heckuva job keeping fans e🍨ngaged in what has turned in꧙to a fun offseason.
Their latest Q&A endeavor asks Bears players who they would choose as their prom king. Considering the team’s back-to-school schedule release video that is steeped in iconic moments in Chicago cinematography history, this feels on-brand. As does the answer from Tyrique Stevenson. You can below, but keep alert for how the rising second-year cornerback answers:
It's a tight race for prom king 👀
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears)
“I’d choose myself because I ain’t get it in high school” is exactly the answer I would expect from Stevenson. And I love it because it fits who he is as a cornerback.
We could be in the opening stages of a Tyrique Stevenson second-year breakout
Pro Football Focus writer Bradley Locker shares for each of the NFC’s 16 teams. And there are some interesting young players on this list, particularly among the opponents on the Bears’ 2024 schedule. However, Tyrique Stevenson getting a mention here certainly has my attention. This is what Locker had to say about Stevenson as his pick:
Stevenson had a good Year 1 as the Bears’ CB2, coming down with four intercep🔯tions and 13 pass breakups but allowing a 100.4 passer rating when targeted. Another good sign: his four highest-graded games came in Week 11 or later. With star Jaylon Johnson solidified next to him and a secondary bolstered with Kevin Byard, Stevenson should shoulder larger responsibilities for a revamped Bears team with lofty goals.
Anecdotally, I thought Tyrique Stevenson was better as his rookie season went on in 2023. I even wrote about it in early January when he was awarded the NFC ꦚDefensive Player of the Week award for his performance against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 17, which I saw as evidence of the Bears playing the long game on the development frontܫ with a talented cornerback with much to prove:
It isn’t as if Stevenson’s award-winning performance came out of nowhere. In fact, it feels like we’ve been building to this moment all year long. Stevenson, like all rookie cornerbacks who enter the league, had some battles to fight and hills to climb to reach this point. Opposing quarterbacks picked on him early and often. Stevenson was flagged a bunch early in his career. Some pena🐠lties were spot on, but others were examples of vets getting one over on a rookie. But instead of turtling, Stevenson continued to play his game. And the results have been wonderful too see.
Thinking about that game and seeing PFF’s write-up highlighting that four of Stevenson’s highest-graded games came in Week 11 or later is the hard evidence I’ve been looking for to prove that something I was feeling was real. Which brings me back to the Tyrique Stevenson-prom king conversation.
Tyrique Stevenson choosing himself as prom king makes sense to me because he plays cornerback with the aggression of someone who hasn’t let it go that he was snubbed from the royal court in high school. Frankly, I respect that level of petty. And I think it helps Stevenson level up his skills.
Don’t get me wrong. I understand that cornerbacks need to be able to erase getting beaten by wide receivers from their memory quickly in order to properly move onto the next play. Cornerbacks who let the times they get beaten linger for too long will get eaten alive in this league. However, some of the best cornerbacks can use those losses as fuel. It is a delicate balance, to be sure. But we’ve seen it work with Jaylon Johnson, who can into the NFL playing with a chip on his shoulder knowing how many cornerbacks were taken ahead of him. Maybe Tyrique Stevenson can learn a thing or two by following the Pro Bowl corner’s path.
BN THROWBACK: Jaylon Johnson’s Inspiration is Every CB Taken Before Him in the 2020 NFL Draft
I’ve been thinking about Tyrique Stevenson being poised for a breakout year since late in the regular season. So to read that the folks at Pro Football Focus are thinking similarly definitely grabs my attention.
