Bear Digest

Why Key Injury Could Spoil Chance for Bears to Bolster Pass Rush

The Arizona Cardinals lost a pass rusher for the season and with Yannick Ngakoue still available the Bears may have run out of time to decide if their young edge rushers can get the job done.

Gene Chamberlain

Dominique Robinson goes through stretching prior to Thursday's Hall of Fame Game. He did not show up on the stat sheet.
Dominique Robinson goes through stretching prior to Thursday's Hall of Fame Game. He did not show up on the stat sheet. / Kevin Whitlock / Massillon Independent / USA TODAY NETWORK
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The Bears are acting too much like a team still trying to rebuild and not enough like a team ready to compete, the place they should be in Year 3 of GM Ryan Poles' regime.

It took only one preseason game to confirm what became increasingly obvious since practice started in spring.

Now it's possible it could take an injury elsewhere to spark Poles into action.

Cardinals pass rusher B.J. Ojulari has a torn ACL and Arizona will likely be out looking for a replacement. The supply has dwindled. Yannick Ngakoue is the best available and has been for some time.

The Bears need to get serious about bringing back their free agent.

A simple and plain fact is they lack the pass rush help to complement Montez Sweat. They have no experienced, effective depth to replace him or the other starting edge, DeMarcus Walker, either. This much was evident in Thursday night's game and even moreso by Sweat's absence Saturday from practice due to injury.

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Through most of Thursday's preseason game, the only good look the Bears defensive line had at Texans quarterbacks Davis Mills and Case Keenum came when they went out of the game and were standing on the Houston sidelines. Their rush men simply couldn't get close to the passer.

It takes a four-man rush and players who provide both rest and support for running play situations in this defensive scheme coach Matt Eberflus uses.

They're drastically shorthanded on experienced, effective talent up front and this doesn't even take into account the depth factor for giving starters a few downs off in games.

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On Saturday, Dominique Robinson fell on Caleb Williams' fumbled snap and it was the first time he'd made an impact play of any type since training camp and preseason started—or OTAs for that matter.

Eberflus sought to bolster Robinson's resume a bit Saturday after practice.

"He's really built his body up," Eberflus said. "He's done some good things in the offseason, and we really see that he's become a better run player. He's been able to set the edge, be stout on the edge of the defense there and he's always been great. Great in pursuit and those things."

In truth, Robinson has two sacks, three tackles for loss and 12 pressures in two seasons and 792 defensive plays. That's plenty of time to do more than build your body and be stout. He doesn't get to the quarterback and he's playing the edge, not defensive tackle.

At some point, even in this one-gap defensive front, the end has to be an edge rusher and not just a quasi-defensive tackle. Robinson hasn't been this and Eberflus had to admit as much.

"Where we want him to grow the most is really the finishing at the top of his rush," Eberflus said. "The ability to be–as (former NFL GM) Bill Polian would say–bore around the edge, to be able to turn that corner with your toes pointing towards the quarterback. He's getting better at that, but we need to see more consistency on that."

He'd needs to get to boring instead of being boring.

Robinson isn't the last best hope for Bears edge rush support. They do have some garden variety journeymen like Jake Martin and Khalid Kareem but squeezing a sack or two every three or four games seems about the extent of their production.

They also have rookie Austin Booker

"He's growing," Eberflus said. "He's only played that position for a little bit of time, so he's just learning as he goes. He's like a big sponge but what he has is great effort."

They don't need Square Pants, they need the quarterback sitting on the seat of his pants.

"He has a great motor," Eberflus said. "So that's a great starting point to have. He has good slip; he's got that natural ability to slip and move around the corner, be able to take the inside charge if you give him, and he doesn't do anything predetermined, which is great.

"He's an instinctual rusher, so he goes, and then he reacts to what he sees, and I think that's hard to defend."

These are all wonderful traits for a young pass rusher who needs to develop, but it requires time to funnel these skills into the proper place before sacks or even just pressure begins to rain down.

In his first preseason game, Booker got in 24 plays and looked like a rookie. In other words, it was difficult to notice him. He was facing back up Houston pass blockers, or even third- and fourth-team players and made one tackle.

There is no pass rush presence when Sweat is out of the lineup and h,e can't play every down.

Their line at practice Saturday of DeMarcus Walker, Gervon Dexter, Zach Pickens and either Robinson or Booker will give quarterbacks enough time to stand still in the pocket and throw darts.

There are reasons not to like the idea of bringing back Ngakoue. At least Pro Football Focus has found them, ranking him one of the worst defensive linemen the past few years.

The Bears wouldn't be bringing him in to be a lineman. They'd be bringing him in to be a rush man. They have linemen.

It's time for Ryan Poles to admit the pass rush help he brought in this year is going to take time to develop. In the meantime, he'd better go get an actual complementary edge rusher.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.