General supervisor Ryan Poles has made a number of strikes to spice up the Chicago Bears secondary since he took over in January 2022. In final 12 months’s draft, he added cornerback Kyler Gordon and security Jaquan Brisker within the second spherical. And late final month, he used one other second-round decide on Tyrique Stevenson, a 6-foot, 198-pound cornerback who performed two seasons at Georgia and two at Miami.
Now Stevenson is predicted to compete for taking part in time at nook with Gordon and Jaylon Johnson.
Miami secondary coach Jahmile Addae coached Stevenson for his ultimate season with the Hurricanes, throughout which Stevenson had two interceptions and 9 passes defended.
Addae spoke with the Tribune this month to share his experiences working with Stevenson. Here’s that interview, edited for readability.
Note: This is a part of a collection of conversations with the faculty place coaches of this 12 months’s Bears draft picks.
What form of participant are the Bears getting in Tyrique?
They’re getting an aggressive, edgy, multifaceted participant. There’s some untapped potential even this far into issues. He’s nonetheless rising in his craft, however as I see it, he’s capable of assist in a number of positions, which clearly provides value at that degree. But he’s going to be fiery. He’s going to compete his ass off when the ball is within the air. He’s going to be bodily on the level of assault. He’s going to know the place he must line up — and everybody else round him. Just holistically a superb soccer participant.
He mentioned he and Bears coach Matt Eberflus talked about him being old skool by way of his physicality. What did you see from him in that regard?
Yeah, I believe he would slot in within the old-school days of no chin straps and no face masks. He’s a tricky child, and he’s not contact-shy in any respect. That’s refreshing to see, particularly on the nook place. Sometimes they label these guys as of late as protection corners, and he’s not that. In truth, he most likely has simply as a lot of a security ability set whereas enjoying nook as I’ve seen since I’ve been teaching. It could be truthful to say it’s worded the appropriate manner if you happen to would label him as an old-school, kind of throwback participant by way of his psychological make-up and physicality of the sport.
You talked about he hasn’t reached his full potential but. What do you see as his subsequent steps in his growth?
The psychological facet is all the time one thing you may get higher at. So that’s all the time going to be there mentally. But I believe nook is a place that in case your approach is missing you might be uncovered. And he does a extremely, actually good job of enjoying via approach, however there will likely be some occasions the place he’ll get on himself as a result of possibly he’s inconsistent by way of a way he’s making an attempt, whether or not or not it’s a bounce jam on the line of scrimmage or a feather approach on the line of scrimmage or popping out of the break space. I simply suppose technically as a nook you possibly can all the time proceed to wash up your craft. I believe he’s no completely different. But I additionally suppose there’s upside by way of enjoying slot nook and probably at security, too, and in the event that they have been to ever put him there, I do suppose that as a result of he doesn’t have that a lot of a physique of labor that he would proceed to develop in that and get higher all of the whereas. Because he hadn’t performed that place technically for us outdoors of sub packages, however he’s succesful in my view.
In your 12 months with him at Miami, did you are feeling like he grew?
Oh, yeah. … A 12 months in the past, I don’t know that he was being talked about within the first or second rounds. But since getting right here — and that’s not for me to toot my horn — he’s labored his butt off to make it occur. But he has gotten higher all of the whereas. You can see the development from the day we began camp to the final recreation. Never excellent, proper? But all the time working to be there and positively progress between the time we began and the time he bought out the door.
The Bears mentioned he’d most likely begin off at outdoors nook. But you suppose he’s able to enjoying within the slot and at security on the NFL degree?
A little bit little bit of his background: When he was on the University of Georgia, he performed nickel. So he’s already performed it … and had some success as a slot nook as a real freshman for Georgia. When I bought right here to the University of Miami, he was enjoying nook, which clearly he performed properly there as properly. So he has a physique of labor at each positions. Any time you play nickel, you and the security behind you’re actually tied in, so the pure development is that if a man can play nickel, he ought to at the very least know what the security is doing, being that these two are interchangeable elements and work collectively. So I positively suppose along with his pace, dimension and physicality that it might be no drawback for him to maneuver again to play security. We didn’t try this with him as a result of he was value extra to us being outdoors on the nook place. But had I had a roster the place I felt good about one other nook enjoying at that place, it might not have been hateful to maneuver him again to play and have the ability to overlap the sector as properly.
What’s he like off the sector?
Really only a homebody. Some of our youthful guys used to mess with him (about it). … He doesn’t exit an entire bunch. You would suppose typical Miami child, possibly hang around, have a superb time. He is in the home hanging out. He has a sister who has just a few kids. He would assist his sister with elevating them. Has a whole lot of household on this space, so spent a whole lot of time round them. I can’t recall a time that anybody would say he had ever at the same time as a lot stepped right into a social occasion. In phrases of the soccer facet, he’s not very outspoken. He’s not quiet both. He spoke when spoken to. But he’s not a loud, rah-rah man. He’s extra nearly being quiet, shutting up and dealing.
Do you have got a favourite recreation or second of his that stood out to you?
I’m most likely going to need to say the Virginia Tech recreation. It was a extremely gradual begin for us. We weren’t enjoying as properly. It was the primary time I actually noticed him make a mature transfer and form of seize the group and get after them just a little bit on the sideline by way of simply ensuring the attention self-discipline is true, ensuring they’re making the right communication and checks and whatnot. I assumed that was cool to see as a result of popping out of Georgia the knock on him was his management skill wasn’t there, so to see that half flourish and proceed to develop all through the season from that time on, I believe he felt, what, ‘This is my unit, and I’ve started working to steer these guys.’ And he was in a position to take action.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com