The Bears have a lot of money tied up at the linebacker position. And I will admit, I got very little usable material on these guys. So, I’ll keep this brief.
Is T.J. Edwards worth the money? “Yes. One thing that fans discount too often is the ‘quarterback of defense’ stuff. That guy is so damn important. I know he’s not the green dot but that doesn’t matter. He’s the orchestrator. And I expect big things from him behind this new front.”
I don’t get Tremaine Edmunds. Am I wrong? “What don’t you get? Is he overpaid? Probably. But the Bears weren’t getting him if they didn’t overpay. What’s odd about Edmunds is he’s a perfect complement to a great pass rush and he hasn’t had that in Buffalo or Chicago. You force quarterbacks into some quick throws over the middle and he’ll be a five-pick guy.”
Did the Beas overdraft Ruben Hyppolite? “We had him on our board. A little bit later than the fourth but I don’t think much later. Sixth, I think. People seemed surprised by that pick but we weren’t. I didn’t scout him but our guy who did liked him for specials because of the speed. Ben LOVES speed above most other things. This was not a draft with safe late-round prospects. If you saw a trait in a guy you loved, you took him. Bears clearly did that. Why not?”
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
The 2024 Bears LBs were nothing more than adequate — when one considers the full spectrum of each LB’s performance. TJ Edwards was more of a pressure playmaker (4 sacks, 15 pressures) — but he did surrender two TDs — where Tremaine didn’t surrender any. Tremaine didn’t cover as poorly as TJ (Edward’s passer rating of 112.9 was 20 points worse than Edmunds’). Statistically, Edwards was the more active tackler — but neither could compare with the Steelers rookie Payton Wilson (a player who was available when Ryan Poles selected Kiran Amegadjie in the 2024 draft). Compare their “1st Responder”… Read more »
Tremaine is the guy that should really benefit from the change in defensive schemes. Yes, he takes some bad angles at times, but he cleans up a lot of missed tackles, too.
Tremaine is the guy that should benefit from the change in defensive schemes. Yes, he takes some bad angles at times, but he cleans up a lot of missed tackles, too.
Agree about Edwards and Edmunds. Edwards is a massive bargain for what he brings to the team. Big tackle numbers (along with Byard) and great leadership.
Hyppolite, we’ll see. There’s always late round gems, and there’s always a chorus of critics saying they were overdrafted, who then shut up when the player balls out. I’m hoping he becomes a very good player and a good draft value.
Hyppo was taken way early.