Dennis Allen is bringing inevitable changes to the Chicago Bears’ defense. Nobody doubts the former New Orleans Saints head coach is qualified for the job. Many people inside the NFL regard him as a genius when it comes to calling defense. The only question is what changes he may desire on the personnel side of things. Chicago appears to have an established roster of good players at all three levels. Even so, Allen may have different ideas about them since he doesn’t run the same system Matt Eberflus did.
The good news is the schemes aren’t wildly different. Adam Gristick worked with Allen in New Orleans as an assistant coach. He told Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic that his former boss will find ways to get the most out of what he has. Out of all the players on the roster, though, the two who should be the most excited about his arrival are linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards.
Gristick coached linebackers at the Senior Bowl and had a suggestion for Bears linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards as they prepare for their new scheme.
“All you need to do is turn on the No. 56 film in New Orleans and watch Demario Davis and the productivity that guy’s had over the course of the years he’s been there,” Gristick said. “He’s a five-time All-Pro in New Orleans. If they watch that 56 film, those linebackers should be pretty fired up about that defense.”
Dennis Allen gets his linebackers plenty of stats.
In 2021, his last year as a coordinator before getting promoted in New Orleans, the position group enjoyed a productive season. Demario Davis had 105 tackles and three sacks. Kwon Alexander, despite missing five games with injuries, still had 50 tackles and 3.5 sacks. C.J. Gardner-Johnson, though a safety, was listed as the third linebacker most of that year. He had 46 tackles, two sacks, and three interceptions. It is beyond evident that Allen uses his linebackers in a far more aggressive fashion, blitzing often to harass the quarterback.
The Bears’ veterans can do this. Edwards had four sacks this past season despite Chicago not being much of a blitzing team, and Edmunds had 5.5 sacks in his first three seasons in Buffalo. Both are fully capable of attacking when asked, and Dennis Allen is almost certain to take advantage of that.
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I’d love to see Sanborn get more playing time. The guy is so technically sound and disciplined that he just seems to get more out of his playing time than the guys that cover more ground. I think the pff scores for these three LBs will back that up.
Top two picks: 2 DL or OT & DL.
It’s just a fallacy that you’re more likely to give up big plays on blitzes. Big plays happen vs most defensive setups regardless of Blitz. If the blitz does what it’s supposed to, it won’t give up chunk plays, it’ll fore quick dump offs which are the goal of the blitz. But more than just the possibility of giving up big play, the odds that something on offense is sped up, the possibility of a bad result increases more than a good result for offenses. This is why guys who blitz and know how to scheme it generally have top… Read more »
@citizen34: I suppose the question is whether the team is blitzing to cover up a weak secondary, or they are blitzing because they can afford to put more players into the pass rush because the secondary doesn’t need them for coverage. If it’s the former (weak secondary), then a good QB can beat the blitz for huge plays; if the latter, the defense is trying to mix up the looks and keep the QB uncomfortable. I think we can clearly state that the Lions and Vikings secondaries aren’t great – the Lions completely changed their CB room up last offseason,… Read more »
The top teams have a really strong interior D lineman that can create pressure on their own. Less need to blitz. What I would give for Akeem Hicks in his prime on this team. That would be a game changer. This is why the Bears need to draft Mason Graham if he lasts to 10.