Finally, Kyle Fuller is getting his due!
NFL Network is rolling out the list of 100 best players in 2019, as polled by league players, and the Chicago Bears’ top cornerback has cemented his place among the game’s best:
https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/1153487032611721218
Fuller checks in at No. 95 after putting together one of the best seasons by a Bears cornerback.
Last year, Fuller tied for the league lead in interceptions (7), was alone at the top of the leaderboard in pass break-ups (21), made the Pro Bowl, and earned first-team All-Pro honors. And when I think about the 2018 Bears, one of the first things that will come to mind is how Fuller’s breakout season was emblematic of the team’s storybook season as a whole.
Before the Bears were a 12-game winner and division champion, they were a team brimming with upside and potential, but also one with a tough road ahead to get it.
And while the team was knocked down a peg early on, Chicago bounced back to storm through the rest of its schedule. Fuller’s ascent to stardom was the personification of that rise, recovering from the gut-punch of dropping an Aaron Rodgers interception that would have sealed a Bears Week 1 win to put forth his best season as a pro. In a nutshell, that’s what the 2018 Bears were all about. It was less about falling and more about picking yourself up.
Fuller’s road to becoming the Bears’ top-ranked cornerback has been a winding one, but he started to realize his full potential in 2018. This season will see Fuller enter a new defensive scheme, but he is embracing Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano and everything he brings to the table. And if Fuller (a staunch Vic Fangio supporter) is buying in, then this probably won’t be the last time we see him hanging with the top-100s.