Chicago Bears rookie Thomas Graham Jr.’s debut is another indictment on Matt NagyRyan Heckmanon December 21, 2021 at 6:00 pm

Bears fans were watching this game in disbelief. How on earth could this kid have never seen the field all season long? Better question: how did the Bears nearly risk losing him after they chose to waive Graham back in August?

We were succumbed to watching Kindle Vildor give up a passer rating of 136.2 this season (through Week 15) while missing tackles left and right. We were even tricked into believing Artie Burns was a halfway decent starter once he supplanted Vildor — because it couldn’t have gotten worse.

The Bears were reeling all season long at their CB2 position and it was arguably their most glaring weakness in terms of personnel. Yet, this entire time, a rookie out of Oregon was waiting for his shot.

Look, this should come as no surprise, here. Graham was known for his ball skills at Oregon. In fact, he totaled 32 pass breakups in three seasons there. Talent evaluators constantly used phrases like “well-built frame” and “impressive ball skills” when writing pre-draft content around Graham.

Graham was no. 76 overall on Pro Football Focus draft board‘ back in the spring. That means he was evaluated as a sure fire third-round pick, but fell to the sixth. The Bears stole this kid, and never used him.