The Chicago Bears lost both starting safeties from a season ago, creating a need to pick up quality safety talent in free agency and the draft. The biggest name the Bears acquired is veteran Coby Bryant.
Bryant was the top safety for the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks last season. He recorded four interceptions, seven pass breakups, 66 total tackles and four tackles for loss. Not only is he a talented playmaker, but he also inspires the rest of the defense to up their game.
“I think when you watched him on [Seattle’s] defense, I thought his play demeanor was contagious,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “That’s kind of what I’m hoping that he brings, and I believe he will bring that type of mindset to our team.”
Chicago also used their
first round pick on a safety -- Oregon's Dillon Thieneman, who was unanimously considered one of the top safety prospects in the draft after recording eight interceptions and over 300 tackles in his three years in college. Bryant will be in the position to be a mentor to Thieneman as well as everyone else on the defense. This is not a responsibility he takes lightly.
“That’s why I’m here - to bring guys along. We’ve got a ton of great players throughout this team, especially on defense as well,” Bryant said. “We want to be well known not just [because of] coach Ben and the offense, but especially powerful on defense as well. We want to create our name as far as turnovers, play style, mentality - that’s something we want to bring to this team.”
Turnovers were part of Chicago’s defensive mentality last season. However, the Bears struggled in nearly every other defensive metric last season. Bryant will be part of the leaders on defense helping to bring Chicago back to being one of the top defenses in the league.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Coby Bryant bringing new mindset to Bears defense
