Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune answers your questions:
Does Chicago sign Za’Darius Smith or Jadeveon Clowney before preseason? — @windycitybearss
The Bears would really like to see a draft pick — Austin Booke or even Dominique Robinson, whom [head coach] Ben Johnson praised coming out of spring workouts — emerge as the third defensive end in the rotation. I’d be surprised if they signed a name player such as Smith or Clowney. I highly doubt either one would play for cheap, and the Bears are already ninth in the league in spending on edge rushers this season, according to Over the Cap. Add Smith or Clowney and the Bears almost surely would be in the top five.
What everyone is overlooking is that the Bears believe Dayo Odeyingbo is entering his prime and should be on the field a lot. This topic has gotten way more discussion than is warranted this offseason. The Bears will be a lot more creative getting after the quarterback with new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, and they also should be better pushing the pocket and penetrating on the interior with players such as Grady Jarrett.
Yes, I think it is very evident that the Bears plan to scheme pass rush more this year. Again, via Biggs:
Odeyingbo also has the flexibility to move around on the line, and one longtime defensive coach predicted Allen is going to be especially creative in identifying the opposing offensive lineman he wants to attack in critical situations.
“The Bears are going to use a lot of disguise,” the coach said. “There will be a lot of changing the picture post-snap. You have to have versatile defenders that can play from different alignments and different levels of the field.
“You’ll see fronts you have not seen in Chicago for a long time. It’s not your standard four-down front or three-down front. They will have their base package. They will have a lot of loaded or tilted fronts in an effort to create a specific matchup they want to exploit. That’s probably one reason they bid big for a player like Odeyingbo. He and Sweat can both be lined up inside at tackle, too, and now you’re getting them matched up on a guard.”
In fact, as the anonymous coach pointed out, there is every sign that the Bears will use a lot of disguise this year.
[Allen] has thrown a lot at the defense, and the Bears probably have more wrinkles on that side of the ball than they’ve had in a while. Allen has rolled out some three-safety packages in the first week, and [safety Jaquan] Brisker likes how he has a lot of different responsibilities.
“I’m going to be close to the line of scrimmage,” he said. “Sometimes I’ll be back. But I love being closer to the line of scrimmage. Really just having me anywhere where you’ve got to account for me, trying to see where I’m at.
“Just like (coach) Ben (Johnson) said the other day, you’ve got to know where (No.) 9 is, and that’s true. I’ll be close, I’ll be in the back, I might be outside corner, I might be in the slot. You never know.”
So the odds are that the defense will be much more multiple and, indeed, just the other day, Johnson invoked the name of history’s most successful multiple team, Bill Belichick‘s New England Patriots.
Fans love this kind of stuff and there’s an inherent feeling that blitzing and confusing defenses with different formations and a lot of late movement is always better. But it’s not easy.
Right now, the defense that I look at in the league that creates the most pressure on offenses in this way is the Minnesota Vikings, and defensive coordinator Brian Flores has become famous for it. The Vikings were fifth in points allowed last season. But, despite having one of the best offensive head coaches in the game, the Vikings lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Rams and never sniffed the Super Bowl.
The truth was that, despite ranking in the top 10 in points allowed, the Vikings defense made their fair share of mistakes. There are also a lot of holes left in that defense that can be exploited by offenses that know what they’re doing (like the Rams under Sean McVay). In the end, the Vikings were only 17th in total yards per game.
I’m not saying it’s the wrong thing to do, either for the Vikings or the Bears. But I am saying that, though Allen is a good coach, the Bears will be in their first year doing it with a new coaching staff. And even when it’s done reasonably well, as the Vikings did it, it’s not always better than a defense which is less fancy but executed well.