“Fun to watch”: Tory Taylor causes a stir in Chicago

It always seems like a gamble when an NFL front office spends draft capital on a special teams player. When it comes to those early picks in the fourth round and earlier, it seems like they won’t pan out unless the Raiders select them.

However, it should come as no surprise that Tory Taylor is as good as he imagined on the Chicago Bears’ practice field. The 122nd pick in the 2024 NFL Draft is living up to expectations ahead of his rookie season and catching the attention of his head coach.

“It’s like, wow, the spin he could get in,” Eberflus said. “The one he almost got, he had two at the 1-yard line, of course. But the spin he could get in… really unbelievable. So it’s fun to watch him.”

Eberflus raved about Taylor’s skills, adding, “He’s like a trick shot guy.”

Ask any college football fan and there is little doubt among the general public that without Taylor’s record-breaking skills, Iowa would be a 10-win team in 2023.

Offensively, the Bears are now definitely better positioned than the Hawkeyes. Their two top picks in this year’s draft, quarterback Caleb Williams as the first overall pick and Rome Odunze as the No. 9 pick, are expected to step in and take the offense to a level that Chicago has not seen before.

But even with this influx of talent, the Bears rely heavily on young players, so the protection that general manager Ryan Poles bought with his fourth-round pick is notable. Poles said The Pat McAfee Show after the draft that the selection of Taylor was intentional, as he wanted to embarrass opposing teams with the former Hawkeye.

“I haven’t played much in the NFL, but I know it’s a very uncomfortable feeling to run out on the field and see the ball inside the 10-yard line,” Poles said. “Sometimes it’s daunting. And I love taking advantage of field position. And that should really help us score points, too.”

The Bears have plenty of players offensively and defensively who can turn their fortunes around, but a gun-toting punter is often a luxury in the NFL that, ironically, is usually afforded to poorly run franchises.

Of course, the Bears want to use Taylor sparingly. The less he plays, the better. It means their offensive investment is paying off and the franchise is heading in the right direction. But the fact that the team knows so early that they can rely on Taylor to get out of trouble and make things difficult for their opponents is the highest praise a rookie punter, no matter when he was drafted, can ever receive.

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