Looking for talent on the Bears roster? Check out the secondary

BOURBONNAIS - When was the last time you heard someone say the Chicago Bears' secondary was the focal point of the defense?

While the Bears have suffered through a dearth of talent up and down the roster over the last decade or so, nowhere has it been more desertlike than in the defensive backfield.

The Bears' DB problem this century - particularly at the safety position - is illustrated in them boasting only five Pro Bowl DBs, with Mike Brown's 2005 campaign the only Pro Bowl effort since Mark Carrier went to three between 1990-93.

Tim Jennings (2012-13), Charles Tillman (2011-12) and Nate Vasher (2005) are the Bears' only Pro Bowl corners over the past 20-plus years. Jerry Azumah (2003) and Corey Graham (2011) each had one Pro Bowl effort as special-teamers.

It appears, however, the times, they are a-changing.

I asked Matt Nagy on Thursday if the secondary was a bit ahead of the rest of the club so far, and he said, "They're playing well. They're back there, they're getting turnovers, interceptions.

"Right now they're doing well and they'll continue to keep challenging - Prince (Amukamara) and Kyle (Fuller) back there, they're bringing the other guys up behind them.

"Any time you get interceptions, their confidence goes up."

This is a trend we saw beginning last season after Fuller came out of nowhere to play at a Pro Bowl level, prompting the Bears to make him the highest-paid player on the defense, and Amukamara showed well enough to encourage Ryan Pace to give him a new three-year, $27 million deal of his own.

But the Bears still finished tied with Atlanta for 30th in the NFL with just eight interceptions.

Through the first seven practices, Amukamara seems to be picking the ball off every day.

Nagy says, "Again, one of the things that we stress as a team is takeaways. We want to be able to be aggressive. That's the mentality of our team, so let's be aggressive. Let's be jumpy. Let's be smart so you don't get double moved."

Any worries Bears fans might have had regarding the Bears corners resting on their laurels after getting paid have been alleviated as Amukamara and Fuller have arguably been the two best players in camp, and Bryce Callahan and Cre'von LeBlanc are also having great camps at the nickel.

Brown gave the Bears four excellent seasons at safety before injuries limited him to just 36 games over his last five seasons in Chicago, and even when he was healthy, they could never find anyone to pair with him.

Chris Harris, Danieal Manning, Adam Archuleta, Kevin Payne, Al Afalava, Major Wright, Antrel Rolle and Chris Conte all tried, but other than Harris, the Bears had one failed draft pick or free agent after another until the arrival of Adrian Amos and Eddie Jackson.

Jackson was taken in the fourth round last year and had an excellent rookie campaign, starting all 16 games and contributing two of the Bears picks, three fumble recoveries and returning one of each for touchdowns.

Amos was a fifth-round pick in Pace's first draft class three seasons ago who struggled mightily early but settled in the second half of last season after a benching seemed to motivate him.

Jackson believes the continuity of returning all four starters is making a big difference.

"It helps a lot," he said. "You know the guy next to you. We know each other's strengths and weaknesses coming into Year 2. We can freestyle a lot of things. If Kyle sees something on film, and it shows up in the game, he'll come to me like, 'Eddie, have me over the top, I'm going to break on this.' If Prince sees something like that, we can adjust to each other."

Deon Bush and Deiondre' Hall have flashed occasionally at safety as well.

Whether or not the early camp dominance of this secondary group can carry over into the season of course remains to be seen, but so far they have really been the stars of the show.

• Hub Arkush, the executive editor of Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at harkush@profootballweekly.com or on Twitter @Hub_Arkush.