After using a first-round pick on Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman and then trading up in Round 4 for Texas corner Malik Muhammad, the Chicago Bears may have just completed one of the fastest, most versatile secondaries in the NFL.
Because when you layer Muhammad’s 4.41 speed and sticky press ability into a room that already includes Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, and now Thieneman flying over the top, the Bears’ secondary starts looking unfair.
The depth chart now
GettyBears secondary
The Chicago Bears’ secondary that led the NFL with 33 takeaways and 23 interceptions in 2025 is barely recognizable anymore. C.J. Gardner-Johnson is gone. Jaquan Brisker is gone. Kevin Byard, who led the NFL in interceptions with 7, is gone. Nahshon Wright signed with the Jets for relatively cheap and Chicago let him walk anyway.
At cornerback, Jaylon Johnson anchors the left side. He’s a two time Pro Bowler, the best cover man on the roster, and the reason defenses built around man coverage work in Chicago. Opposite him, Muhammad steps into a battle for the CB2 role against Tyrique Stevenson, and Stevenson should be worried.
Malik Muhammad ran a 4.41 40 yard dash at the combine. He jumped 10’10” in the broad and 39″ in the vertical. He’s 6 feet tall with 32.5 inch arms and two years of starting experience at Texas, where he earned All-SEC honors in 2025 while allowing only two catches of 12+ yards all season.
Stevenson is in a contract year and spent chunks of 2025 effectively benched. His leash just got shorter. If Muhammad shows out in training camp, the starting job could be his before Week 1.
At nickel, Kyler Gordon signed a market-setting extension last year for a reason. He’s one of the best slot defenders in the NFL when healthy. The problem is he played in just three regular season games in 2025 before calf and groin injuries ended his year. But now he’s back.
Then there’s Zah Frazier. The fifth-round pick from 2025 missed his entire rookie season due to a personal matter, but he’s medically cleared and back in the building. At 6’3″ with 4.36 speed, he’s a wild card with real upside.
The safety room is where this gets unfair
GettyBears secondary
Losing Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard stung. Those were two proven starters, and replacing both in one offseason is no small ask. But GM Ryan Poles went and did exactly that.
He spent the 25th overall pick on Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman, and the Bears paired him with free agent acquisition Coby Bryant to form what Poles called one of the NFL’s fastest safety tandems.
Thieneman ran a 4.35 at the combine. He racked up 306 tackles across three college seasons. “He’s a violent football player,” Poles said after the pick. “He strikes. There’s a knock-back element to his tackling.”
Jaylon Jones holds down the free safety role. Terell Smith and Dontae Manning provide depth. The Bears also have Josh Blackwell, Cam Lewis, and Dallis Flowers working on the back end.
The Chicago Bears secondary is set. Now the pass rush just needs to catch up.
Bears’ New Depth Chart After Malik Muhammad Pick Is Borderline Unfair