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30 Most Important Bears of 2022: No. 22 Tavon Young

The Chicago Bears are gearing up for the 2022 NFL season, which features plenty of new and returning faces within the organization. There are a number of players, coaches and front office members that are crucial to the team’s success this season.

Every day from now until the start of training camp, we’re counting down our 30 most important Bears for the 2022 season. We’ll recap their 2021 season, look ahead to 2022 and tackle the biggest question facing them this year.

Next up at No. 22 is cornerback Tavon Young, who looks to bring some stability at the slot cornerback position.

Background

AP Photo/Terrance Williams

Position: Cornerback

Age: 28

Experience: 7th season

2022 cap hit: $1.37 million

2021 recap

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Since being drafted by the Ravens in 2016, Young has been productive in the slot but has also battled his share of injuries. He’s torn the same ACL twice (2017, 2020) and suffered a neck injury (2019) that forced him to miss an entire season. He was derailed by injuries that impacted what looked to be a promising career, especially after he signed a three-year, $28.5 million extension following a breakout 2018 season. At the time, it was the richest contract for a slot cornerback.

But Young rebounded in 2021, where he played all 17 games, including seven starts, totaling 35 tackles, two sacks, one interception and three pass breakups. The usually productive Ravens finished 19th overall in defense, including giving up a league-worst 4,742 passing yards, where their secondary was ravaged by injuries. Young was determined to return to action following his ACL injury in 2020, and he was the team’s Ed Block Courage Award recipient. Young was released by the Ravens ahead of the start of free agency to clear salary cap space, which made him a solid addition for Chicago.

2022 outlook

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Cornerback was the biggest issue on defense last season, but especially in the slot where Chicago was burned by opposing offenses. The addition of Young combats that concern, and the Bears got him at an absolute steal on a one-year deal worth $1.365 million. It’s a low-risk, high-reward contract for a player who has been productive in the slot but also has injury concerns in the past.

Young is no doubt the favorite to be the starting nickelback, but he’ll have to earn it. There’s a competition in the slot brewing between Young and former sixth-round selection Thomas Graham Jr., who’s looking to carve out a role for himself in this defense. Assuming Young does win the starting job, he’ll provide some experience for a starting secondary that’s relatively inexperienced with the likes of youngsters Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and  Jaquan Brisker.

Big question: Will Young win the starting nickelback job?

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For any player with an injury history, there’s going to be concerns about whether he can stay healthy. But in Young’s case, he also needs to win his starting job. While Young appeared to be a lock at the nickelback spot when he was signed in free agency, Graham has given him some competition that will surely make things difficult on this coaching staff.

Graham showed promise in his brief stint as a rookie last season, and he’s looking to carve out a starting role for himself — and slot cornerback is his opportunity given the outside is already locked down by Johnson and Gordon. Young certainly has the experience and proven production in the slot, which certainly helps his case, but the real test will come in training camp when the pads come on.

30 Most Important Bears of 2022

We’re counting down our 30 Most Important Bears of 2022. Check back every day leading up to the start of training camp.

30. RB Khalil Herbert

29. K Cairo Santos

28. S DeAndre Houston-Carson

27. DE Al-Quadin Muhammad

26. DE Robert Quinn

25. S Eddie Jackson

24. LB Nicholas Morrow

23. OL Cody Whitehair

22. CB Tavon Young

21. COMING 7/6

20. COMING 7/7

19. COMING 7/8

18. COMING 7/9

17. COMING 7/10

16. COMING 7/11

15. COMING 7/12

14. COMING 7/13

13. COMING 7/14

12. COMING 7/15

11. COMING 7/16

10. COMING 7/17

9. COMING 7/18

8. COMING 7/19

7. COMING 7/20

6. COMING 7/21

5. COMING 7/22

4. COMING 7/23

3. COMING 7/24

2. COMING 7/25

1. COMING 7/26

 

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