Pro Football Focus (PFF) released their grades for the 2016 campaign and it's pretty embarrassing for Chicago fans. After a 3-13 season there wasn't much optimism expected, but it's now clear where the biggest hole on defense actually is.
If you don't know, PFF is the most universally used grading system for professional football players. Their methods indicate they grade each player individually, on every play, based on what their perceived assignment is. The majority of it is subjective, but they've grown to become incredibly well respected in the industry.
Recently, they added the newly acquired free agents to the Chicago Bears roster and released a compilation of the team's individual player grades. When you look at the defense, one player appears to stick out like a sore thumb.
The player we are referring to is defensive tackle Mitch Unrein. It's odd that there's no grade for Kyle Fuller, why not put Cooper in there? In any case, it's clear Unrein was the hole opposing teams chose to exploit over and over again. This is indicated by the glowing RED color.
This is important to understand for a few reasons.
#1. Can you now see why Jonathan Allen is such a popular pick among Bears fans? He would be expected to immediately replace Unrein and he's an elite talent at the position.
#2. It's not necessarily Unrein's fault. He wasn't expected to be the starter, he was thrown in after recent third-round pick Jonathan Bullard failed to impress the coaches. Unrein is an undrafted free agent from 2010 brought on for depth.
#3. Eddie Goldman is missing. Goldman is missing because he only started five games last year. Expect him to bounce back with a vengeance and immediately raise the overall grade of Chicago's defensive line.
The fourth point about this is by far the most important, and easiest to get excited about.
#4. Defensive tackle is the ONLY hole left on this defense.
The grades themselves don't tell the whole story. Chicago's addition of Quitin Demps, Prince Amukamara and Marcus Cooper has completely changed the landscape of the defensive backfield and another starting safety could be coming via the draft. The Bears will get Goldman back, Floyd will have a full year under his belt and Trevathan is expected to recover fairly quickly from his knee injury.
When this unit is healthy, watch out. Not only will this talented group benefit further from finally playing together but they are expected to get another elite young star with the third overall pick in April's draft. The team also recently visited with Broncos DT Vance Walker illustrating a direct knowledge of the hole on the defensive line.
Assuming Chicago drafts Jonathan Allen, like many analysts have predicted, the Bears will go from a less-than-mediocre defensive unit to one of the league's best, instantly. It won't be directly because of Allen, it will be because of the vital hole he fills in addition to the new crop of defensive backs and healthy teammates.
I like what you're doing Mr. Pace.
The player we are referring to is defensive tackle Mitch Unrein. It's odd that there's no grade for Kyle Fuller, why not put Cooper in there? In any case, it's clear Unrein was the hole opposing teams chose to exploit over and over again. This is indicated by the glowing RED color.
This is important to understand for a few reasons.
#1. Can you now see why Jonathan Allen is such a popular pick among Bears fans? He would be expected to immediately replace Unrein and he's an elite talent at the position.
#2. It's not necessarily Unrein's fault. He wasn't expected to be the starter, he was thrown in after recent third-round pick Jonathan Bullard failed to impress the coaches. Unrein is an undrafted free agent from 2010 brought on for depth.
#3. Eddie Goldman is missing. Goldman is missing because he only started five games last year. Expect him to bounce back with a vengeance and immediately raise the overall grade of Chicago's defensive line.
The fourth point about this is by far the most important, and easiest to get excited about.
#4. Defensive tackle is the ONLY hole left on this defense.
The grades themselves don't tell the whole story. Chicago's addition of Quitin Demps, Prince Amukamara and Marcus Cooper has completely changed the landscape of the defensive backfield and another starting safety could be coming via the draft. The Bears will get Goldman back, Floyd will have a full year under his belt and Trevathan is expected to recover fairly quickly from his knee injury.
When this unit is healthy, watch out. Not only will this talented group benefit further from finally playing together but they are expected to get another elite young star with the third overall pick in April's draft. The team also recently visited with Broncos DT Vance Walker illustrating a direct knowledge of the hole on the defensive line.
Assuming Chicago drafts Jonathan Allen, like many analysts have predicted, the Bears will go from a less-than-mediocre defensive unit to one of the league's best, instantly. It won't be directly because of Allen, it will be because of the vital hole he fills in addition to the new crop of defensive backs and healthy teammates.
I like what you're doing Mr. Pace.
