Bears Blitz

Published by Matt Eurich on October 22, 2015
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Cornerback Kyle Fuller burst onto the scene last year for the Chicago Bears in his rookie season, but the young defensive back has had a rough start to his sophomore season in 2015.

The Bears selected Fuller 14th overall in the 2014 draft, and then-general manager Phil Emery was excited about Fuller’s potential in Chicago.

“We’re extremely happy to have Kyle Fuller be a new Bear,” said Emery at the time, per ChicagoBears.com’s Larry Mayer. “This is a player that is universally loved in our building. Coaches loved him when they [evaluated] him; very high-level grade on him at corner. Our scouting staff worked extremely hard on him.”

Fuller had a productive career at Virginia Tech and was a four-year starter for head coach Frank Beamer. He played with good instincts in college and was aggressive against both the pass and the run. He began his first NFL training camp in the summer of 2014 as the third cornerback on the depth chart behind veterans Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings.

The Bears planned on using Tillman and Jennings on the outside in the team’s base 4-3 defense, and they would then move Jennings inside to nickelback and Fuller to the outside when the team played in its nickel package.

After playing a handful of snaps against the Buffalo Bills in the regular-season opener last year, Fuller was thrust into a starting role in Week 2 when Tillman suffered a triceps injury early in the game.

Fuller picked off San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick twice on Sunday Night Football, and the rookie cornerback maintained the starting job opposite of Jennings for the rest of the season.

In his first NFL start against the New York Jets the following week on Monday Night Football, Fuller recorded seven tackles, two pass deflections, one interception and two forced fumbles.  

“That was a great play for Kyle. He’s got great ball skills,” Jennings said about Fuller’s interception, per ESPN.com’s Michael C. Wright. “Geno Smith scrambled around and gave Kyle a shot, and Kyle came down with it, bro.”

Fuller was later selected as the NFL’s Rookie of the Month for September, but the young cornerback regressed as the season wore on. He struggled playing off coverage in then-defensive coordinator Mel Tucker’s Cover 2 defense, and he did not show the same instincts he played with during the first few weeks of the season. 

He finished his rookie season with 64 tackles, 10 pass deflections, four interceptions and three forced fumbles. 

The Bears fired Emery—as well as head coach Marc Trestman and his coaching staff—after Chicago’s disappointing 5-11 season, and the team hired general manager Ryan Pace and head coach John Fox in January.

Fox brought in veteran coordinator Vic Fangio to run Chicago’s defense in 2015, and football analyst Matt Bowen thought Fuller had a chance to be a building block for the future under Fangio and defensive backs coach Ed Donatell.

“Fangio was an excellent hire, and the Bears got another good one when they brought in Ed Donatell to coach the secondary,” wrote Bowen for Bleacher Report. “This new defensive staff has the ability to develop Fuller, improve his technique and maximize his talent. Don’t expect the Bears defense to become a top-five unit overnight, but Fuller is a core building block for the future under Fangio.”

After an up-and-down training camp and preseason, Fuller began the 2015 season as one of the team’s starters at cornerback along with veteran Alan Ball. 

According to Pro Football Focus, Fuller was thrown at four times in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers, and he allowed two catches for 46 yards. In addition to giving up two catches, he was also called for a 34-yard pass interference penalty against Packers wide receiver James Jones.

In Chicago’s Week 2 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, life did not get much easier for Fuller. According to Pro Football Focus, he was targeted four times in the passing game, and he allowed three catches for 60 yards with two touchdowns. 

He was called for a 42-yard pass interference penalty against receiver John Brown, and he was later benched for cornerback Terrance Mitchell, per CSNChicago.com’s John Mullin:

Fuller was slow to jam receivers off the line of scrimmage in the first two weeks of the season, and that forced him to be a step or two behind them as they ran their routes down the field.

In Week 2 against the Cardinals, Fuller lined up opposite of Brown late in the first quarter.

He played Brown tight near the line of scrimmage, but he failed to jam Brown off the snap of the ball and allowed a free release:

Brown was able to create separation down the field because of his speed, and Fuller attacked Brown’s arms without turning his head to the football and was called for pass interference:

Veteran strong safety Antrel Rolle spoke earlier this season about what Fuller needs to do to get better, per Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times:

He’s a good corner and he has a strong skill set but he just hasn’t applied it. When you don’t apply it, it negates your whole strength as a cornerback. It’s just keeping on the little things as far as being technical. If you’re going to press a guy, make sure you disrupt him and put your hands on him. If we have a certain kind of coverage, it’s making sure you stay true to your coverage.

Fuller reclaimed his starting job in Week 3, and according to Pro Football Focus, he allowed just one catch for four yards against the Seattle Seahawks. He played well in Week 4 against the Oakland Raiders, allowing just one catch for 17 yards, and he allowed three catches on four targets for just 30 yards a week later against the Kansas City Chiefs.

It looked like Fuller was starting to turn the corner, but he struggled again in Week 6 against the Detroit Lions. Per Pro Football Focus, Fuller was targeted nine times in the passing game by quarterback Matthew Stafford, and he gave up eight catches for 60 yards with two touchdowns.

Fuller’s biggest gaffe of the afternoon came on a touchdown throw from Stafford to tight end Tim Wright in the back of the end zone.  

Fuller picked up Wright in coverage off the snap of the ball, and he initially did a good job of covering Wright in the end zone:

Stafford rolled out of the pocket to extend the play, and Fuller failed to turn back toward the quarterback to locate the football before the pass was thrown to Wright for the touchdown:

After the play, Fox was seen yelling at Fuller from the sidelines, per Jahns:

Fangio was not afraid to bench Fuller when he struggled in Week 2 against the Cardinals, but he knows the only way for Fuller to get better is by helping the young cornerback gain more confidence.

“There is no magic potion out there,” said Fangio, per Mullin. “You gotta go out there, experience success, do your job, break up a pass or two, you know, be tight to your man, make the plays when they come to you, and the more he does that, the more confidence he will get.” 

Fuller has all the tools to be a successful NFL cornerback, but he has struggled with his fundamentals at times this season. He needs to do a better job of pressing wide receivers at the line of scrimmage to gain an advantage off the snap of the football, and he also needs to do a better job of turning his head to locate the ball in the air.

Even with his struggles this season, one teammate does not think Fuller has played that poorly.

“He’s been accepting the challenges that’ve been put in front of him,” said cornerback Tracy Porter before Week 6, per Mullin. “People were harping on him, saying he’s been struggling. But I don’t see it. These last couple weeks he’s been doing a tremendous job.”

If Fuller can work toward being more aggressive at the line of scrimmage and improve his technique once the football is in the air, he has a chance to bounce back this season, but if he continues to struggle with his confidence, it is going to be a long season for the second-year cornerback.

Statistical information courtesy of NFL.com unless otherwise noted.

Matt Eurich is a Chicago Bears featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.

Follow @MattEurich.

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