Kyler Gordon’s ‘Elite’ Trait Makes Him a Legitimate Weapon for Bears

Kyler Gordon, Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears nickelback Kyler Gordon is an elite athlete.

He is also extremely confident, as most NFL players are. But his greatest asset has, perhaps, gone under the radar amid his play on the field. Gordon’s instincts are enhanced by his high football IQ. Together, they underscore his athleticism and bolster his confidence.

Ahead of the Bears’ Week 3 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, nickelbacks coach David Overstreet II spoke with Clocker Sports about Gordon’s unsung “elite” trait.

Bears Coach Dishes on Kyler Gordon’s ‘Elite’ Trait

Kyler Gordon in Command on the Field for Bears

“He does you have to be confident because you’re controlling everything,” Overstreet told Clocker Sports on Wednesday. “I tell him I say, ‘Hey, when the nickel’s on the field, you’re in charge, all right?’ I said, ‘You’re in charge of the secondary. All the calls and checks going to come from Kyler, so he makes all those checks and different coverages. Kyler had to do that. The way we’re gonna match things up, Kyler has to make that call. Kyler had better read the motions and things like that.

“You have to be confident. And that comes from the time on task; the reps he’s accumulated, but also the amount that he studies.”

Gordon backs up that confidence on the field.

In the extremely small sample size of two games, Gordon has earned the highest grade of his career from Pro Football Focus with a 68.7 mark. His 75.1 grade against the Houston Texans in Week 2 was the fifth-highest single-game mark of his career.

PFF also credits him with allowing a career-low 62.5% completion rate on passes thrown into his coverage.

His coverage ability in a 5-foot-11-plus, 200-plus-pound frame makes him a versatile weapon.

Kyler Gordon a Swiss Army Knife on Defense

Per Pro Football Reference, Gordon has blitzed five times in 2024, giving him 2.5 per game. He blitzed 2.7 times per game (35 times in 13 games) in 2023. More importantly, PFF credits him with 3 hurries after he had 4 in 2023 and 2 as a rookie in 2022.

“I tell people all the time when people are like, ‘Oh, he’s gotta be a nickel.’ I say, ‘A nickel don’t have to be small. He just gotta have great instincts, he’s got to be quick and also gotta be able to be physical enough to fit the run all the time. And Kyler is a bigger nickel,” Overstreet said. “But he has elite instincts, he’s quick, and he’ll hit anybody. So that’s a huge advantage for him. Because we got a guy that can cover, but he can play almost like a linebacker position too.”

Gordon has been outspoken about his Pro Bowl and All-Pro aspirations. Overstreet previously told Clocker Sports about helping Gordon get there, pointing to creating turnovers, specifically interceptions.

But that versatility allows Gordon to create havoc for opponents which can lead to turnovers in other ways.

On any given defensive play during the game, as the Bears have shown this season, he could come on the blitz.

“His ability to rush the quarterback, he can accumulate strip sacks. Most of the sacks in this league happen in the pocket now. So he can get there. And when he’s going to get the sack, instead of just hitting the quarterback, get the ball out. That’s something we talked about after he hit that sack in the preseason in Cincinnati. He crushed the dude,” Overstreet said.

“So I stopped the tape and so I said, ‘You see that ball?’ Ball sitting right in his face. He’s like, “Yeah, I gotta get that ball.? So that’s been a real big emphasis for him, is find a way to punch the ball out.”

It is certainly not as though Gordon is not physically capable of finishing those plays, which is why Overstreet emphasized it to him.

Kyler Gordon’s Preparation Meets Bears Coaching Staff’s Simplification

Gordon’s own preparation, along with the emphasis on simplification from his coaches, allows Gordon to maximize his physical gifts with the coaching staff’s help.

“He is the quickest — I told him it was when he ran his short shuttle at his pro day, I said, ‘This is one of the fastest short shuttles I’ve ever seen.’ He has cat-like reflexes. Like we say, he’s Spider-Man. So that’s the thing, is that he is a very calm person. He’s kind of quiet — until you with friends with him, [then] he makes a lot of noise. But when he gets on the field, that’s when he turns the switch,” Overstreet said.

“That’s what we talked about. Off the field, he’s Peter Parker. On the field, he’s Spider-Man, and that’s what he wants to do. He said when he puts his helmet on, he’s putting on his mask. That’s his Spider-Man mask, so that’s when he turns it on.”

Gordon was a second-round pick in 2022, selected No. 39 overall by the Bears. There have always been relatively high expectations. He has embraced that along the way, speaking late last season about being a key to the Bears defense’s versatility.

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He handles all of that in a way that belies his inexperience at the NFL level. Overstreet, a former Bears safety during his playing days, spoke to that after previously saying he was committed to helping Gordon achieve his goals.

Overstreet reiterated that point on Wednesday.

“He has a lot to do,” Overstreet said. “He has a lot to do, and we try to go find a good way to teach it to him. So I’ve learned Kyler. You gotta learn your learners. I’ve learned Kyler. I know what he likes, what he doesn’t like. I’ve learned how to teach it to him and what he can remember. He can remember almost anything. But you find ways to take into complicated things and simplify them.

“Instead of saying, ‘Hey, if this is this and this is that.’ Just tell him, ‘Hey, this.’ And now all other stuff doesn’t matter, because the one thing that matters is that thing you told him. And that’s the thing that latches on, and everything else is easier for him.?