The Chicago Bears defense is something special. There’s no other non-cliche way to put it. It’s clicking on every level. The defensive line is dominating. Khalil Mack and the pass rush are haunting the dreams of quarterbacks. Now the secondary is picking off everything in sight. Kyle Fuller, Eddie Jackson, and Bryce Callahan seem poised for a Pro Bowl trip. Amidst this landslide of breakout years, not enough people are talking about Roquan Smith.
Here’s the situation. Following the win against Minnesota, Smith is now the sole team leader in tackles with 70. If that weren’t enough he’s also third on the team with three sacks this season and an additional three hits on the quarterback. He has five tackles for a loss as well. The kid is balling. Yet there’s something to remember here.
He shouldn’t be.
Have people already forgotten? Smith was the #8 overall pick. There was a celebration. Hands were shaken. High fives made and then? Not much. Smith participated in early minicamps and disappeared for months after that after falling into a contract standoff with the Bears front office. June turned to July. July turned to August. Still, he wasn’t there.
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Not until August 14th did he finally sign. That was three weeks into the preseason. Training camp was over and the opener was less than a month away. Not a lot of time to prepare. Then matters got worse.
Roquan Smith overcame no preparation and an injury to where he is
Barely into his first practices, Smith tweaked his hamstring. This forced him to miss the rest of the preseason and a number of practices along the way. Thus he was going into his rookie year with no game action and little preparation in this Vic Fangio defense. Normal players would’ve been so far behind and clearly lost on the field.
Smith? He made it clear on his first official snap that he’s not a normal player.
Now here he is. He’s leading his team in tackles and is threatening to be the first Bears rookie to eclipse the 100-mark in 18 years. The only other one to ever do it? Brian Urlacher. While the two are different types of players, it’s becoming apparent that Smith is special. What he’s doing should not be happening, but it is.
People keep finding ways to nitpick his game but they are doing so without context. They don’t realize how far behind he is in a mastery of this defense compared to everybody else. That even goes for Mack who didn’t arrive until September 1st. He at least understood concepts and had veteran experience. Smith had none of those benefits.
Yet here he is, feeling like he’s one breakout game away from seizing control of Defensive Rookie of the Year. So impressive.
