Chicago Bears rookie outlook: CB Zah Frazier faces uphill battle for playing time — but it's not the 1st time

Chicago Tribune

12-07-2025

Length comes up a lot when talking about offensive and defensive linemen. NFL teams want tackles with long arms. The same is true for edge rushers, who have to battle with those long-armed offensive tackles.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles has shown an affinity for drafting long-armed players at another position group: defensive back. He found another one when he selected Zah Frazier out of Texas-San Antonio in April in the fifth round (No. 169). Frazier's 32⅞-inch arms were the second-longest of any cornerback measured at the NFL scouting combine in February.
Length alone won't land Frazier a spot on the team, but the Bears are optimistic he has the physical tools to develop into a quality NFL cornerback.
Here's what Bears fans need to know about Frazier before rookies report for training camp July 19.
Al Harris kept an eye on Frazier. The first-year Bears defensive backs coach joined Ben Johnson's staff after five years with the Dallas Cowboys. While Harris was in Dallas, a cornerback from UTSA caught his eye. When he took the job in Chicago, Harris wasted no time letting Poles know about the rangy Roadrunners corner.
'I actually got a text in February from Al Harris saying: 'Hey, there's this guy Zah Frazier. He's long. I think we can develop him as a press corner. I think we can get him in the fourth or fifth round,'' Poles said after drafting Frazier.
That's exactly how it played out.
Frazier brings his 6-foot-3 frame to a crowded cornerback room. But the Bears believe he has the tools to compete, even with Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, Terell Smith and Josh Blackwell already pretty well-established on the roster. Like Frazier, Smith and Stevenson have arms longer than 32 inches.
Frazier grew up in Cedartown, Ga., near the Alabama border. He wasn't rated by online recruiting services coming out of high school and initially went to Southern Illinois, playing in four games for the Salukis in 2019.
He then transferred to Coffeyville Community College in Kansas and emerged as one of the top juco recruits in 2022. He initially committed to Kentucky before flipping to UTSA.
With the Roadrunners, it was a long path to significant playing time. He played in 12 games in 2022 but wasn't a starter. UTSA cornerbacks coach Nick Graham had high expectations for Frazier's future, but he still had to prove himself.
'He just plain wasn't ready,' Graham said, 'and I don't like to put kids out there before they're ready, especially a kid who's out of juco.'
The next season, an academic eligibility issue kept Frazier out until November. When he finally cracked the starting lineup in 2024, he had a breakout season, grabbing six interceptions and defending 15 passes in 12 games.
Frazier already possessed an NFL-size frame, but adding that type of ball production probably cemented him as a potential draft pick.
Cornerback wasn't a huge area of need, but NFL teams always need depth in the defensive backfield. The Bears return their entire starting secondary, so it will be an uphill battle for Frazier to find playing time as a rookie.
But the Bears drafted him because they see a developmental corner whom they can work with. Frazier's 6-3 frame and 80-inch wingspan are huge pluses. If he can learn the playbook and understand NFL concepts, he could be the type of cornerback who excels two or three years down the road.
Harris was a similar player coming out of Texas A&M-Kingsville in 1997. A sixth-round draft pick, Harris eventually developed into a two-time Pro Bowl cornerback and second-team All-Pro with the Green Bay Packers.
'It definitely boosts my confidence because I have a coach that has done it,' Frazier said. 'He is going to give me the game. I've just got to add it to my toolbox and just be ready to work every day.'
Graham said scouts were telling him Frazier would have a shot in the NFL based solely off his measurables — like those long arms. But what NFL teams really wanted to see in his final year of college was an ability to create turnovers.
'So I had a conversation with him about it,' Graham said. 'We talked about it: You've got to start attacking the ball. That's the only way you're going to get drafted. Otherwise you're going to have to fight it the hard way. He took that to heart.'
The six interceptions in 2024 easily could've been seven, eight or nine, Graham said. Graham had confidence that Frazier could've done it the hard way, fighting his way up as an undrafted rookie, but all those interceptions led to increased interest from NFL teams.
Graham believes Harris might be the perfect position coach for Frazier.
'They're kind of similar,' he said. 'Big, strong guys that can run and don't mind getting physical. There's nobody better that he can learn from.'
Frazier visited with the Bears at Halas Hall during the predraft process. That's where he began to build his relationship with Harris.
From that day forward, the Bears were at the top of Frazier's wish list.
'Ever since I took my first top-30 visit here, it has been great,' he said. 'I told (Harris) when I was here, it felt like home here. It's great to be drafted by the team I wanted to be drafted by, so it's a blessing for me for sure.'
The biggest adjustment for Frazier as a rookie will be learning NFL concepts and grasping the playbook.
Graham believes Frazier won't be afraid to compete. That's what he had to do in order to see the field at UTSA. He worked his way up over the course of his time there. In a crowded Bears secondary, he'll have to do the same.
'He understands there are guys on that (Bears) roster like — they're playing,' Graham said. 'But the ones where it's a question, you've got to go. You've got to look better every day. You know what that takes: studying, taking care of your body, sleeping. He understands that stuff.'
If Frazier is going to earn playing time as a rookie, he'll have to beat out a more experienced cornerback ahead of him on the depth chart.