Bears Defense and Secondary
Defensive Front Seven
This should be the bread and butter of the Chicago Bears in 2016, after all they used the last remaining gold in Fort Knox to improve on this area. This is how the Bears front seven looked last season.
NT: Jeremiah Ratliff
DE: Ego Ferguson
DE: Jarvis Jenkins
ILB: Shea McClellin
ILB: Christian Jones
OLB: Jared Allen
OLB: Pernell McPhee
While the Bears, and fans, expected a lot from Jared Allen, they just didn’t get it. The Bears also got more out of guys like Willie Young, Lamarr Houston, and Pernell McPhee than expected in 2015, but even with more production than perhaps expected the Bears completely revamped their front seven for the 2016 season.
They needed it too. With the defensive scheme not really pairing with the assets the Bears had, the team absolutely needed to go out to free agency and upgrade this unit. It started with the signing of Super Bowl champion Danny Trevathan. His familiarity with Fox, and proven ability to succeed in the 3-4 defense.
That wasn’t the end of the upgrades, the Bears landed Akiem Hicks a ridiculous 3-4 DE from the New England Patriots, Jerrell Freeman from the Indianapolis Colts. Then they continued the upgrades when they drafted Leonard Floyd (1st round) and Jonathan Bullard (3rd round).
Floyd will be expected to use his speed to get around corners and pressure quarterbacks, but if he outproduces Pernell McPhee the Bears might be in trouble. While Floyd’s primary tool (at this point) is his speed, speed is typically neutralized in the NFL. He will need to add strength, and find a way to break free of blockers through series of sophisticated moves in order to succeed at this level. Floyd, and rightfully so, will be much more criticized than Bullard, even though they are both rookies.
From there, the Bears linebacking core has the chance to restore some faith in the Chicago Bears long history of great linebackers. There might not be a Hall of Famer among them, but as a unit they can fly, the will tackle whoever they get their paws on, and they will disrupt the passing and running games of their opponent. Expect career years out of Freeman and Trevathan. This is the beginning of the return to prominence for the Bears linebacking corps. Don’t believe me? Check out Pro Football Focus’ ranking of the Bears front seven.
Secondary
In order for the front seven to be effective, the secondary needs to be effective. In order for the secondary to be effective, the front seven needs to be effective. Its the circle of life for a defense in the NFL. Rarely do you have a team that can send cornerbacks one on one with receivers all afternoon and shut them down, you need someone putting pressure on the quarterback, forcing him into either bad decisions or at least creating dead plays for an offense.
I don’t see any reason to be hopeful from the Chicago Bears secondary. While Kyle Fuller played great after the bye last season, he is still a question mark. Then you have Tracy Porter, Adrian Amos, and Harold Jones-Quartey filling in the rest of the regulars.
There is some stock in Fuller, but most of that is the hangover from his fascinating start in pro football. This current regime doesn’t like him (from reports) and his current injury even puts his availability at risk. Porter was fine, but fine doesn’t strike fear into opposing passing games.
The Bears play in the same division as the most prolific passer in the game today (Aaron Rodgers) and playing in an age which even mediocre quarterbacks can hurt you every Sunday, and if they aren’t getting pressure from their front seven, the secondary isn’t strong enough to limit the damage. When the team loses in 2016, you may be able to highlight an interception or a costly fumble, or you may be able to show how the team just couldn’t move the ball offensively. But the true reason the team will lose will be their secondary.
Not onboard with me? Well PFF has the secondary ranked second to last for the 2016 season, highlighting their inexperience and consistency.
Special Teams
Eh, not so special… With the Chicago Bears all-time leading scorer in Robbie Gould being cut last week (MUST READ Robbie Gould says Goodbye) the Bears now have Conner Barth as their primary kicker. Barth has been around since the 2008 season, and has only missed four field goals from within 40 yards in his career. It is past 40 that he begins to be shaky… Missing 21 kicks from 40-plus yards, and being successful on only 78% of his attempts between 40-49 yards, he is a drop off from what Gould once was.
Pat O’Donnell is back for his third season as punter for the Chicago Bears. He has been a good punter so far, pinning teams within the twenty on 40% of his kicks and only putting the ball in the end zone on four occasions in 2015.
After that we look at the return game and Deonte Thompson. There isn’t much that scares an opposing kickoff team in Thompson, and with the rule changes on kickoffs, there is a chance that the Bears won;t get as much production as some other teams do.
Thompson will also be charged with returning punts this season as well. He has yet to do this, and there isn’t anything about Deonte that tells you he could be a threat from here either.
When your punter is the highlight of your special teams unit, there isn’t anything to get excited about. The lone positive is, you can get back to the TV late from breaks because there will not be any excitement from this return game.
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