Proving Time for Bears Edge Rushers

Without Robert Quinn, the young Bears edge rushers are entering a stage where they'll have more chances to prove themselves.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus had a few parting words with Robert Quinn after news of the trade filtered out this week.

"The relationship that him and I built during the time he was here was outstanding," Eberflus said. "His leadership was great. His work ethic was unbelievable on the field. And he certainly did a lot of great things for the Bears when he was here, so I just want to thank him for that."

The team outpouring of affection lasted for a few days and in the meantime they got ready for Dallas.

Will it mean the end of the progess shown by the Bears defense with young players like Dominique Robinson, Trevis Gipson and Kingsley Jonathan part of the four-man rotation with veteran Al-Quadin Muhammad? 

Doubtful. Losing Roquan Smith would be a bigger disaster because they have no one who could adequately replace him athletically at the moment. 

As for Quinn, his contribution on the field this year was somewhat marginal. 

Quinn played 68% of the snaps on defense this year but had the fewest tackles of the four defensive ends in the regular rotation, with nine. Al-Quadin Muhammad, who has played 58% of snaps, has 18 tackles. Dominique Robinson, who has 38% of plays, has 12 tackles. Trevis Gipson, who played 44% of snaps, has 11 tackles.

Gipson had the most sacks and quarterback hits, with two sacks and six hits. He also has the most tackles for loss with three. 

"I really do trust in Gipson, he's had a good start to the season," GM Ryan Poles said. "Muhammad, he's brought intensity and toughness to that group and even young Dom Robinson has flashed. He tipped that ball that Roquan got the other day and has a promising future and I think he's going to continue to trend upwards."

It's difficult to determine if defenses simply tried to avoid Quinn. Perhaps they ran or rolled out to the other side of the line. 

Considering the number of plays, Quinn didn't seem a real fit for what the Bears were doing, even though he has some successful experience in the Rod Marinelli version of this defense. It wasn't that his skills eroded, although it's possible not being around all offseason hurt. 

Bears Edge Rusher Stats

Player	Pct. of Defensive Plays	Sacks	QB Hits	Pass Deflections	Tackles
Trevis Gipson	44%	2	6	3	11
Dominique Robinson	38%	1.5	2	1	12
Al-Quadin Muhammad	58%	1	2	1	18
Robert Quinn	68%	1	3	0	9

They want more gap discipline from everyone, including defensive ends. It keeps them from being burned in the running game and by scramblers. Quinn couldn't freelance as much for sacks.

Sacks are not everything. The Bears had 49 of them last year and finished fourth in the league, but their passer rating against was a horrendous 103.3, and last in the league. This year they are fifth in the NFL at 75.5.

With such a solid passer rating against, it only figures that the Bears had been putting heat on quarterbacks even though this scheme keeps rush men in their lanes to protect the edges.

With Quinn only making one sack and the other defensive ends not many more, they have still managed enough pressure to be effective. According to Sportradar, the Bears lead the NFL in hurries percentage—forcing a QB to throw before they want, or flushing them out of the pocket to throw on the run. They are 12th in pressure percentage at 23.7, yet only tied for 22nd in sacks at 12. 

They have blitzed the lowest percentage in the league at 14.6% yet their sacks leader is a linebacker, Roquan Smith with 2 1/2, not a lineman.

What this all says is Quinn was fitting in but as a cog in a grand rush scheme, a team approach to rushing the passer. He stayed within the confines of the defensive system without freelancing in an all-out effort to produce sacks. Last year they lost Khalil Mack and played a different scheme, so Quinn was churning out sacks while the overall pressure of the defensive front wasn't as consistent.

A replacement could do the same, in this case Jonathan, a player they picked up after roster cuts just before the season. 

It's quite possible Quinn will begin piling sacks up again in Philadelphia because he'll be surrounded by players more advanced in their defensive scheme and will no longer be focused on supporting a group of younger linemen to avoid mistakes. 

He'll be able to pin his ears back more and go after the QB. After all, the Eagles didn't trade a fourth-round draft pick for an edge rusher only to make him into a run stopper. 

Meanwhile, it will give young players on the Bears defensive line more of a chance to fit into this scheme and hone their skills.

The young pass rushers have graduated, as Poles said.

The interesting part will be whether they can continue to produce the same rate of pressures and help out their secondary without Quinn, like numbers suggest they have done to date with him playing.

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