Front Office Men Agree: The Bears Just Got Lawrence Taylor

For the past 48 hours, experts have tried to offer a proper explanation for who the Chicago Bears just acquired in Khalil Mack. They've provided personal accounts from opponents who played against him and teammates who played with. There were also coaches who worked with him and even executives that scouted him. Still it's hard to grasp exactly who the Bears got. So a couple former front office names decided to make it crystal clear. Chicago traded for Lawrence Taylor. Clear enough for you? For those who live under a rock or simply don't care about football history, here's a quick explanation. Taylor is widely considered one of the best, if not the best defensive player in NFL history. He revolutionized the outside linebacker position in the NFL, becoming the first to turn it into a primarily pass rush position. His mix of size, length, athleticism, and power had never been seen before. Offenses didn't know how to stop him. By the time he retired he'd collected 132.5 sacks, 10 Pro Bowls, two Defensive Player of the Year awards and became the only defender to ever win league MVP. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/The-Greatest-Defensive-Season-of-All-Time-1986-MVP-Lawrence-Taylor-NFL-Highlights.mp4"][/video]

Two longtime NFL front office men say Khalil Mack is spitting image of LT

The comparison began with former team president Joe Banner. The man spent 30 years in an NFL front office, most of it in Philadelphia. So he became familiar with the legend of Taylor right away with the Eagles and Giants being bitter rivals. He stated on Twitter that the Bears had hit an absolute home run in the trade for Mack, and doubled down with the comparison shortly after.

He wasn't alone. Former scout and front office advisor Greg Gabriel, who got his start with the Giants in the 1980s, didn't back down from that comparison. He embraced it, telling Laurence Holmes on 670 The Score how similar the two actually are.

Taylor and Mack share similar dimensions. Both were 6'3 and between 240-250 lbs coming out of college. They were top 5 draft picks and emerged from non-traditional football programs. Taylor came out of North Carolina and Mack came from Buffalo. They're also both from the south. Taylor from Virginia and Mack from Florida. They also had similar runs their first four years. Taylor had 37.5 sacks and Mack has had 40.5. In fairness, Taylor missed eight games in 1982 due to the player's strike but it's still another fun part of the comparison. What all of this is saying is the Bears may have secured a future Hall of Fame player in his prime for a more than reasonable price. At the age of 27, which Mack is, Taylor had his best season with 20.5 sacks in 1986. He would have four more great ones to follow. This means the Bears may have elite pass rush play for the next five years at least. It's hard not to feel optimistic about that.