How Bears Hope to Replace Linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski

Bears inside linebackers coach Mark DeLeone has his eye on available options for backup inside linebacker behind Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan

When the Bears quietly walked away from the table in free agency without replacing Nick Kwiatkoski and Kevin Pierre-Louis, it said something.

It said either Ryan Pace had some other plan like a trade or possibly a waiver wire acquisition after final cuts. Or it also suggested they actually had developed some depth behind their two top reserve linebackers who left in free agency, Kwiatkoski to the Raiders and Pierre-Louis to the Redskins.

Bears inside linebackers coach Mark DeLeone thinks they actually have talent available to be adequate backups, and it will become obvious when training camp and preseason start.

"I am really, really excited about Iggy and Josh Woods and their development," DeLeone said. "I can't wait for training camp to watch those two guys play."

Iggy, 2018 fourth-round draft pick Joel Iyiegbuniwe, has barely been seen or heard from except on rare special teams plays. Woods is the college defensive back turned linebacker 20 pounds later.

"And then, Devante Bond, who we signed late in the sesaon last year, if you remember I think after Dallas when (Roquan Smith) got hurt we signed Devante. So I haven't seen Devante play a lot yet, right, because it was at the end of the year. But he's been exceptional in these Zoom meetings and he's played some really good ball with Tampa."

Bond played three Bears games on special teams after being cut following his fourth Bucs game last year.

In all, Bond has six NFL starts and 32 games played with 39 tackles, one for loss and two quarterback hits. At 6-foot-1, 236 pounds, Bond is more ideal size for inside linebacker than some of the other Bears backup inside linebackers. At the very least, the Bears should receive solid special teams play from Bond because he played on 60% and 48% of the Bucs' special teams plays his first two years.

It's Iyiegbuniwe the Bears would really like to see ascend, especially general manager Ryan Pace. He took Iyiegbuniwe in the fourth round when there were obviously other players available and the former Western Kentucky player had some solid combine numbers at 4.6 in the 40 and 7.06 in the three-cone drill.

Getting onto the field for only 26 defensive snaps the last two seasons made it seem Iyiegbuniwe might be headed out the door.

DeLeone indicates something quite the opposite.

"I think Iggy has unbelievable talent," DeLeone said. "I think he has size. I think he has strength. And he is one of the most cerebral players I've ever coached. And I think that Iggy is still a very young football player in a sense that he played at a small school, he's from a small town and he's kind of been growing his football intellect, OK?

"And I think he's made a tremendous jump this offseason."

It hasn't been an offseason for making impressions on the field, that's for sure. So Zoom meetings have to be accepted in lieu of the real thing.

"I think part of this whole thing with Zoom obviously it's unfortunate because we can't practice, we can't have OTAs," DeLeone said. "But the ability to focus on the details of the defense have been outstanding. From a teaching perspective, it's been so unique and special that like we would never get this opportunity in another setup.

"And I think Iggy has really taken advantage of that and bought into that and really grown his football intellect. I'm really excited to see him put it all together."

What the Bears really liked about Kwiatkoski was his home-grown talent as a fourth-rounder. And they'd like Iyiegbuniwe to repeat this, but he hasn't had the opportunity Kwiatkoski had. As a rookie they had to lean heavily on Kwiatkoski due to seven missed games by Trevathan due to injuries and then more the following year.

Iyiegbuniwe has never had that chance because of Kwiatkoski.

"I don't know the perception of where Nick and Kevin ended, right, from where they were a year ago now to then where they ended the season," DeLeone said. "And I think these three guys along with the two rookies we signed, I think there's a real opportunity there for these guys to step up and have that kind of a growth that those guys had. So I'm really excited about that."

The two rookies are undrafted free agents and normally there's no reason for excitement there, but Woods was an undrafted free agent who bulked up and learned linebacker.

The two rookies are Rashad Smith of Florida Atlantic and Maryland's Keandre Jones.

Jones is an interesting signing because he played where Woods played in college, but it was after Woods left. He had been in 33 games at Ohio State before transferring. Smith was Florida Atlantic's tackles leader.

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