The Chicago Bears defense is going through a bit of a gut check at the moment. After a terrific start to the season, they’ve struggled the past two weeks allowing 31 points and 24 points respectively against the Dolphins and Patriots. A primary culprit for these issues is the sudden disappearance of their pass rush. Khalil Mack is ailing with a bad ankle. Akiem Hicks is seeing constant double teams. Yet the man people are angry with the most is Leonard Floyd.
The former 1st round pick has had plenty of chances to get his career off the ground to this point. Yet every time it looks like he’s coming close to a breakout, something happens. It’s a concussion here, a knee injury there. Fair excuses up to a point. Then again, it’s not like the outside linebacker has looked great when healthy.
Through six games this year he has four pressures on the quarterback. Not sacks. Not hits. Pressures. That’s bad even for a backup edge rusher, let along a former top 10 pick. It’s led to some calling him out on not doing enough to earn his pay including those who have played the game before.
Former player and exec Louis Riddick calls out Leonard Floyd for poor play
Louis Riddick knows every level of the game of football. He was a safety in the NFL for 10 years from 1991 to 2001. After that, he became a pro scout for the Washington Redskins and became and worked his way up to a director of pro personnel for multiple teams. Now he’s a top expert for ESPN who has kept a close eye on the Bears the past few weeks.
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One guy he’s been particularly frustrated with is Floyd and he didn’t hold back on his comments when talking to Waddle & Silvy on ESPN 1000.
“Talking about the defensive side, the other guy I’m going to pick out on that side of the ball? Leonard Floyd? You better start doing something. You better start acting like you want to play. You better start acting like at the point of attack you’re someone who wants to take the fight to the offense instead of them just ragdolling you and pushing you all over the place and high-lowing you. Basically, it looked like they’re punking him out there…”
Those are pretty strong words. Riddick is essentially saying Floyd has played soft to this point in the season, lacking any sort of violence or aggressiveness as a pass rusher. In essence, he’s fulfilling the concerns many people had about him coming out of Georgia in that he lacks the power and punch to be a true edge rush in the NFL.
Riddick wasn’t done though.
“Look I loved Leonard Floyd’s athleticism coming out of Georgia. I loved it. But man I’m sitting here, I’m watching you at the point of attack and I’m seeing people just mashing you. You got to be better than that.”
It’s never fun calling out a player for not having enough fight. Still, it’s certainly not talent that’s holding Floyd back. He’s held onto the excuse of playing with a broken hand the first few weeks but that problem has lessened and he’s still not doing his job. Run defense and playing coverage are fine, but Floyd was drafted to rush the passer.
As a rookie, he had seven sacks. Last year he had 4.5. This year? A big fat zero in six games. Injuries may play a part, but he’s not showing any sign of progress and that is concerning. Try to imagine what the Bears pass rush might’ve looked like without the trade for Mack. Is the time approaching where the team has to make a decision on whether Floyd should be part of their future?
They hope not, but it’s ultimately for him to decide.
