It doesn’t take a Harvard graduate to realize Khalil Mack is a superstar. One of the best defensive players in all of football. Watch 60 seconds of his highlights from 2018 alone will prove overwhelming evidence. However, even then it doesn’t quite do justice to how good he is. There are many things beyond the splash plays he does that make him so invaluable to the Chicago Bears and their hopes for a Super Bowl title.
One person who found this out was Cynthia Frelund, the analytic specialist for NFL.com. She wrote a piece on the top players in the league by Win Share. It is a metric that “measures the contribution of each player, position group and side of the ball for every snap in an NFL season.” Quarterbacks, non-QB offensive players, and defensive players were all ranked by their win shares. Mack ended up finishing 2nd in the latter category.
This actually shocked her. Not because the man was overrated. More because he was surrounded by so many other great talents like Akiem Hicks, Kyle Fuller, and Eddie Jackson. Typically her model sees great individual win shares decreased because of such situations. It turns out Mack is an exceedingly rare exception to that rule.
“Over the past three seasons, Mack has ranked in the top three in disruptions (my computer vision metric that shows when a defender got within 5 feet of an opposing quarterback, thus changing the QB’s ability to pass) AND in the top three in edge defenders limiting the rushing yards earned in their coverage. These elements of his game forecast to continue this season. Per Next Gen Stats, Mack’s pressures last season directly led to seven takeaways, second-most in the NFL.”
Translation? Khalil Mack is a bonafide badass
This isn’t news to Bears fans. Any man who can come to a team with no training camp preparation and no knowledge of the defense and have arguably the best performance of an entire season? Only all-time greats do stuff like that. Mack delivered 12.5 sacks in 14 games last year. The first player to surpass the 12-sack mark since Richard Dent way back in 1993. Unless something unexpected happens, this man will end up in the Hall of Fame when it’s all said and done.
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Breaking the math models is nothing new to him. He’s done it his entire life and will likely continue to do it. He has that level of talent and drive. Chicago can only hope he completes the mission of helping this team win a Super Bowl. That would put the trade to acquire him among some of the best in NFL history. Maybe then GM Ryan Pace would get more respect for having the guts to go get such a transcendent player.
