Tyrique Stevenson

Tyrique Marquis Stevenson (born May 26, 2000) is an American professional football cornerback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs and Miami Hurricanes and was selected by the Bears in the second round of the 2023 NFL draft.

Early life

Stevenson was born on May 26, 2000, in Miami, Florida. He attended South Dade Senior High School and transferred to Miami Southridge Senior High School for his senior year.

College career

Stevenson began his college career at Georgia and joined the team as an early enrollee. He played in all 14 of the Bulldogs' games during his freshman season and made 13 tackles with one sack and five passes defended. Stevenson played in all 10 of Georgia's games with four starts during the team's COVID-19 shortened 2020 season and finished the year with 34 tackles and five passes broken up.

After the season, Stevenson chose to transfer to Miami. He made 43 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss, four passes broken up, and one interception in his first season with the team.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Pro Football Focus ranked him as the seventh best cornerback prospect (44th overall) on their big board. ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. ranked him as the seventh best cornerback in the draft. Dane Brugler of ''the Athletic'' had him ranked 10th among all cornerback prospects available in the draft. The majority of NFL draft analysts and scouts projected him to be selected in either the second or third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Cory Giddings of Bleacher Report ranked him as the 17th best cornerback (123rd overall) and projected him to be drafted in the fourth round.

2023

The Chicago Bears selected Stevenson in the second round (56th overall) of the 2023 NFL draft. The Chicago Bears orchestrated a trade in order to secure the ability to select Stevenson, sending their 2023 second-(61st overall) and fifth-round picks (136th overall) to the Jacksonville Jaguars in return for the Jaguars' 2023 second-round (56th overall) selection to draft Stevenson. He was the eighth cornerback drafted in 2023 and was the first of two cornerbacks drafted by the Bears, along with fifth-round pick (165th overall) Terell Smith.

On June 15, 2023, the Chicago Bears signed Stevenson to a four–year, $6.44 million rookie contract that includes $3.48 million guaranteed upon signing and an initial signing bonus of $1.69 million.

Throughout training camp, he competed to be the No. 2 starting cornerback against Kindle Vildor under defensive coordinator Alan Williams. Head coach Matt Eberflus named Stevenson a starter and listed him as the second cornerback on the depth chart to begin the season and he started alongside No. 1 starting cornerback Jaylon Johnson and starting nickelback Kyler Gordon.

On September 10, 2023, Stevenson made his professional regular season debut and earned his first career start in the Chicago Bears' home-opener against the Green Bay Packers and had six combined tackles (five solo) during a 20–38 loss. On September 20, 2023, Bears' defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigned due to personal issues. In Week 8, Stevenson set a season-high with 12 combined tackles (eight solo) during a 13–30 loss at the Los Angeles Chargers. On November 19, 2023, he made four combined tackles (three solo), a pass deflection, and had his first career interception on a pass attempt thrown by Jared Goff to tight end Sam LaPorta as the Bears lost 26–31 at the Detroit Lions. On November 25, 2023, Stevenson injured his ankle during practice and was subsequently inactive for the Bears' 12–10 victory at the Minnesota Vikings on ''Monday Night Football'' in Week 12. In Week 17, Stevenson had five combined tackles (four solo), set a season-high with four pass deflections, and had a career-high two interceptions off passes thrown by Taylor Heinicke during a 37–17 victory against the Atlanta Falcons, earning NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance. He finished his rookie season in 2023 with a total of 86 combined tackles (65 solo), 16 pass deflections, and four interceptions in 16 games and 16 starts. He received an overall grade of 60.2 from Pro Football Focus as a rookie in 2023.

2024

The Bears hired Eric Washington as their new defensive coordinator after Alan Williams resigned at the beginning of the 2023 NFL season. Washington chose to retain Stevenson and Jaylon Johnson as the starting cornerbacks to begin the regular season.

On September 8, 2024, Stevenson was benched for the start of the Chicago Bears' home-opener against the Tennessee Titans in lue of Terell Smith, but still received significant playing time, producing four combined tackles (two solo), two pass deflections, and scored his first career touchdown on a pick-six after picking off a pass by quarterback Will Levis and returned it 43–yards in the fourth quarter to score the game-winning touchdown in a 24–17 comeback victory. His performance earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Week. On September 20, he received a $8,143 fine for taunting due to an incident where he had his hands to the face of wide receiver Nico Collins that started a brief altercation in the Bears' 13–19 loss at the Houston Texans in Week 2. On October 10, he injured his calf in practice and was subsequently inactive during a 35–16 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 6.

Stevenson set a season-high with nine combined tackles (seven solo) and had one pass deflection during a Week 8 matchup at the Washington Commanders. On the final play, Stevenson was observed taunting the crowd near the Commanders' sideline with his back to the beginning of the play, before ultimately tipping a Hail Mary pass thrown by Jayden Daniels into the hands of Commanders' wide receiver Noah Brown in the end zone to lose the game 18–15. As a result, Stevenson was removed from the starting lineup the following week.

In the Bears' 20–23 Thanksgiving Day loss to the Detroit Lions, Stevenson produced five combined tackles (three solo) and made one pass deflection. He was also involved in an incident where he was observed tripping wide receiver Jameson Williams as he was standing out-of-play and Williams was about to bump into him as he was running out-of-bounds following a nine-yard reception in the fourth quarter. Williams retaliated by tossing the ball at his face and was penalized 15–yards for taunting. On December 6, he reportedly received a fine of $19,697 for unsportsmanlike conduct after the league reviewed the sequence of the incident. The following day, the Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus after they fell to a record of 4–8 and appointed offensive coordinator Thomas Brown to interim head coach for the remaining five games of the season.

He finished the 2024 NFL season with a total of 78 combined tackles (51 solo), 12 pass deflections, two interceptions, and one touchdown in 16 games and 16 starts. He received an overall grade of 58.9 from Pro Football Focus, which ranked 133rd among 222 qualifying cornerbacks in 2024.

References

External links

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Chicago Bears bioMiami Hurricanes bioGeorgia Bulldogs bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Tyrique
2000 births
Living people
American football cornerbacks
Chicago Bears players
Georgia Bulldogs football players
Miami Hurricanes football players
Miami Southridge Senior High School alumni
Players of American football from Miami