Dennis Allen was a driving force behind the decision to sign Dayo Odeyingbo in free agency. It made sense. The defensive coordinator has long preferred bigger defensive ends who have great size, length, and power. Sometimes it works out great. See Trey Hendrickson and Marcus Davenport. Other times, not so much. See Payton Turner and Isaiah Foskey. So, it wasn't a surprise that he gravitated to Odeyingbo and his 6'6 ", 282 lbs. frame. However, it appears the Chicago Bears coach may have reached the same realization as others over the past eight games.
Odeyingbo is not a good edge rusher.
He only had one sack in that stretch and rarely impacted opposing quarterbacks. Allen appeared to take a slight dig at the defensive end when talking about the return of Austin Booker.
“I’m hopeful that he’s going to build off that performance last week,” Allen said. “I do think he gives us a little bit more in terms of the pass rush. He had a really nice rush on the sack fumble. For (the) first game out after being out for a long time, I think that gives us a foundation to build from.”
He's not wrong. Booker had a sack in his first game back from a knee injury. At the same time, Odeyingbo went down with an Achilles injury. While the pass rush might be in better shape now, Allen did admit the loss still hurts. Odeyingbo, for all the grief he gets, was a critical part of the Bears' run defense. Booker is unlikely to fill that void.
“(Booker’s) still a young player and … he’s not the biggest guy that we have out there,” Allen said. “So strength and power can be an issue at times. We’re working on trying to improve in those areas.
Dennis Allen has some research to do next offseason.
His edge situation is surrounded by question marks. Odeyingbo might not be ready for the start of 2026 because of this injury. The same goes for Shemar Turner, who tore his ACL. Joe Tryon-Shoyinka is a temporary addition, leaving Booker and Montez Sweat as their only two clear options going into next year. It would be shocking if the Bears didn't make one or two more additions to the group in the spring. The question will be whether Dennis Allen remains steadfast in his preferences or seeks out the best possible players to help his defense excel.
The Bears coordinator is no stranger to working with "undersized" talents. Von Miller and Khalil Mack spring to mind. With how strong the road to a Super Bowl is regarding opposing quarterbacks, Allen shouldn't turn his nose up at anybody. Odeyingbo will return at some point, but the Bears cannot and should not rely on him solving their pass rush issues.
