It’s officially June, which means it’s time to start our annual list: Ten Chicago Bears with the most to prove. Last week, we looked back at the 2025 list, how those players performed, and how that impacted them moving forward. You can see that list here.
Several factors go into this list. Is the player entering a contract year? Have they not lived up to the hype? Are there other outside factors impacting the particular player? Most of the time, the player has underperformed and needs to step up,
but there are plenty of players who are on the list for other reasons. Let’s start with number 10, Tory Taylor.
As punters go, Tory Taylor is probably one of the more popular ones in the league. Taylor had insane statistics at Iowa, earning All-American honors, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that he’s from Australia and has that accent when he speaks as well.
In 2024, the Bears swung big for their punter, drafting Taylor in the fourth round. In the last 20 years, only one punter has been taken before round 4: Bryan Anger in round 3 in 2012. Taylor is the 6th punter to be taken in round 4 over the last 20 years, and by draft position, he’s the 5th highest punter taken over the last two decades.
When you draft a punter that high, the expectation has to be that the punter will be an elite player at the NFL level. Taylor, simply put, has not been.
Taylor hasn’t been bad; he’s just been, well, average, maybe a little below average.
Last season, Taylor was 13th in yards per punt, 25th in net yards per punt, 5th in touchback percentage (that’s bad), and 25th in inside the 20 percentage.
Are those negative numbers all Taylor’s fault? No, they aren’t. There was plenty of criticism of how the Bears’ special teams coverage units played last year, and Taylor’s poor inside-the-20 percentage could be chalked up to Ben Johnson going for it frequently around midfield, which are prime opportunities for punters to pin the opponent.
That being said, Taylor’s touchback percentage is also bad, so when Taylor did have opportunities to pin the opponent, he failed to do so at a higher rate than most.
The fact that Taylor is struggling to pin opponents is puzzling. That is what he did so well in college, which led to him being a fourth-round pick. Taylor also has a big leg and shows it off at times, but his booming punts are usually line drive kicks with poor hang time that may travel 60 to 70 yards, but the returner can get 15 to 25 yards back because Taylor outkicks his coverage.
Taylor has two years left on his rookie deal, so even if he has another mediocre season, he will almost certainly be back in 2027, but it’s time Taylor steps up and shows the league why the Bears spent a high pick on him.
Taylor needs to consistently get more height on his kicks, and he needs to vastly improve his inside-the-20 and touchback percentages. He needs to become an elite punter in the league, one that proves he was worth a fourth-round pick and becomes the weapon that Ryan Poles said he would be when he drafted him.
Yes, the Bears are built around Caleb Williams and the offense, but the defense is most likely going to struggle again this year. If Taylor can consistently get opponents starting inside their own 20, that will greatly help the defense and keep the Bears in the win column even if the defense isn’t at a championship level yet.
