The following is the eighth of nine position reviews from the Bears' 2025 season.
The Bears secondary displayed excellent ball skills, instincts and playmaking ability in 2025, fueling a defense that led the NFL with 33 takeaways and 23 interceptions.
The unit was powered by veteran safety Kevin Byard III, a co-captain who was named first-team All Pro and earned Pro Bowl honors after leading the NFL with seven interceptions, the most by a Bears player since 2018.
"He's incredible," coach Ben Johnson said during the season. "I had a lot of respect for him from afar prior to coming into the building. It's nothing but grown from there. He's done a tremendous job taking care of his own business first and foremost. He's playing at a really high level on that back end, picking up a new scheme, and he's really leading the charge not just for the defense, but the entire team."
Byard excelled while working with defensive coordinator Dennis Allen for the first time.
"I'm being put in position where I'm playing to my strengths, being able to be further back in the defense, being able to read routes and being a ballhawk; what I've always been in my career," Byard said. "No matter where you put me on the field, I'm going to be productive. I'm just producing more interceptions because of what I'm being asked to do."
Byard's veteran leadership was just as valuable to the 2025 Bears as his on-field production.
"I lean into him heavily for kind of feeling the pulse of the locker room," Johnson said. "He knows what winning looks like. His voice really carries a lot of weight for everybody in the building."
"He's just a true pro," Allen added. "He's seen a lot of football, and he's done a really good job for us in a leadership role of being the voice for the back end of the defense in particular. He's got great ball skills and he's got really good instincts. He's searching out opportunities to go make plays, and when they've presented themselves, he's made them, and that's what you have to be able to do."
Byard garnered first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl recognition for the third time in his career. He was previously honored as a member of the Titans in 2017 when he tied for the NFL lead with a career-high eight interceptions and had 16 pass breakups, and in 2021 when he recorded five interceptions and 13 pass breakups.
A second Bears defensive back also earned Pro Bowl honors in cornerback Nahshon Wright, a fifth-year pro who led the NFL with eight takeaways during a breakout campaign.
When Wright signed with the Bears last April after spending most of the 2024 season on the Vikings practice squad, he was expected to compete for a reserve position. But with cornerback Jaylon Johnson sidelined due to an injury, Wright began working with the No. 1 defense in the spring and immediately displayed his ball skills in practice.
That continued throughout training camp and into the regular season, with Wright ultimately sharing the NFL lead with three fumble recoveries and tying for second with five interceptions, one of which he returned 74 yards for a touchdown in the season opener against Minnesota. He also forced two fumbles and broke up 11 passes.
"My confidence started to grow throughout OTAs and training camp," Wright said, "just knowing that [defensive backs] coach Al [Harris], Dennis Allen and Ben trusted me being out there and allowed me being out there with the starters making plays. There were so many things that just fell in line for me, which I was super grateful for, but the confidence came from just the coaches believing in me more so than anything."
Prior to the 2025 campaign, Wright had recorded just one interception and no fumble recoveries in 33 NFL games over four seasons with the Cowboys (2021-23) and Vikings (2024). Last year he appeared in only one game with Minnesota, playing 15 snaps on special teams and none on defense.
"I've gotten better as I've gotten older in the league, but for me it's always been about getting opportunities," Wright said. "That's been my story throughout high school, junior college, college and the NFL now."
Wright was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November after generating five takeaways in five games. He produced three interceptions and two fumble recoveries in helping the Bears go 5-0 in November, the first time they've won five games in any single month since November 1959.
Wright recorded one takeaway in each of the five wins, making him the first Bears player to create takeaways in five straight games since at least 1970. He intercepted Joe Flacco's desperation pass to seal a 47-42 comeback victory over the Bengals and recovered a Jaxson Dart fumble that was forced by C.J. Gardner-Johnson, swinging the momentum in the Bears' direction in a 24-20 win over the Giants.
"It's just what [Wright] does," Allen said. "He's extremely ball conscious, and he's looking for the opportunities that present themselves to take the ball away. He's had a great year. He's made a lot of big plays for us.
"You watch him and how he's matured over the course of the season, and you see him continuing to get better each and every week. And as he's gotten better, that confidence has started to build and I think when a player's playing confident, they usually tend to play pretty well and end up making some plays."
Wright's last three takeaways of November were all All-Pro caliber. He made sensational leaping interceptions in victories over the Vikings and Steelers and then ripped the ball away from Jalen Hurts on a tush push play in a win over the Eagles.
Johnson described Wright's interception versus Pittsburgh as "one of the most athletic plays and phenomenal catches I've seen in a long time, adding that: "what's under-sung about what 'Shonny' is doing right now is how much he's influencing the run game as well. He's coming up, he's tackling the ballcarrier. They're throwing a bubble screen and he's knifing through the play there. He's really playing sound football, really run game and pass game included."
After missing the last 12 games in 2024 with a concussion, safety Jaquan Brisker returned to start all 17 contests in 2025 as well as both playoff games. He recorded 92 tackles, 1.0 tackle-for-loss, 1.0 sack, one interception and eight pass breakups.
"It meant a lot to finally complete a year this year after all the hard work I've been through, what I've been through, all the hard work I've put in," Brisker said. "And to finally finish a year this year and how everything went—we made it to the playoffs, had a great year—it was amazing, and I thank God for that."
Midseason acquisition Gardner-Johnson provided a major boost to a secondary that was thinned by injuries to Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon. While Johnson was limited to seven games, he produced a highlight reel interception Dec. 14 in a win over the Browns when he snatched a pass away from receiver Jerry Jeudy in the end zone. Gordon played in only three games but returned to appear in both playoff contests.
In recording 2.0 sacks Nov. 9 in a 24-20 win over the Giants, Gardner-Johnson became the first Bears defensive back with multiple sacks in a game since cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. also had 2.0 Dec. 17, 2006, in a 34-31 overtime win over the Buccaneers. In addition, Gardner-Johnson became only the second NFL defensive back with 3.0 sacks in his first two games with a team, joining the Houston Oilers' Rod Kush in 1985.
Gardner-Johnson also generated two interceptions, four pass breakups, 51 tackles, 5.0 tackles-for-loss and one forced fumble.
Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson appeared in 13 games with 10 starts, compiling 49 tackles, one interception, 10 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Other DBs who recorded at least 10 tackles were Nick McCloud (27 tackles), Elijah Hicks (19), Jonathan Owens (19) and Jaylon Jones (16).
