Lanschaften » Chicago Bears 2018 Position Battles: Inside linebacker dept

h already getting tested Once all the inside linebackers are healthy and under contract for the Chicago Bears http://www.chicagobearsteamonline.com/kyle-long-jersey , this position group should be a real strength. But so far at camp, this is the thinnest position group on the roster. So thin, that they had to sign a guy off the street just to be able to practice two deep at the position. Week one against the Packers is still a long way off, so it should all work out, right?Roster LocksRoquan Smith will sign eventually. My guess is by the weekend if not before. If this drags on another week I’ll be concerned, but so far his absence is in the news because the Bears are only one of two teams that have reported to camp.Players only have so much wiggle room when it comes to their contracts, so I don’t fault them for getting everything they can. The Bears are just protecting their interests, but at some point they need to realize getting Smith locked up and at practice is the best thing for the franchise. Fellow rookie Joel Iyiegbuniwe tweaked his shoulder and has been held out for a couple days now. The Bears discovered Danny Trevathan’s hamstring injury on the first day of camp, and we haven’t heard much about it since then. This could very well be them being extra cautious with a player that is a no-doubt-about-it starter. Nick Kwiatkoski has benefited from the extra time with the ones in camp Authentic Jordan Howard Jersey , but his roster spot was never in question. He was even spotted working some at outside linebacker during camp so far, which would line up with the offseason reports that the Bears were thinking about having him slide into the Christian Jones (ILB/OLB) role. A good bet to make itEvery year of the Vic Fangio era, the Bears opened up with four inside linebackers on the 53-man roster, so if we go off that, then those four I listed as locks will make it awfully hard for a bubble guy to break through. But if one were to make it as a fifth ILB...On the bubble... I think that would be John Timu. I’ve always liked the way Timu plays football. He’s not the most athletic, but his instincts are sound and he’s made himself into a decent special teamer. Josh Woods, who is converting from defensive back, and Ro’Derrick Hoskins, who just signed yesterday http://www.chicagobearsteamonline.com/kyle-fuller-jersey , are both trying to impress enough to make the practice squad. EDIT: Depth concerns led the Bears to add Ro’Derrick Hoskins, but he’ll have an uphill climb to the final roster.Bears Rush Report 2018: Week 4 vs the Buccaneers The Bears offense FINALLY showed up last Sunday, but that doesn’t meant that the defense was silent. Not only did the Bears defense hold the #1 scoring offense to 10 measly point—3 if you don’t count the garbage time touchdown—but they snagged 4 more sacks to add to their NFL-leading total of 18 through 4 games. But that wasn’t all, the front-7 accounted for another forced fumble and 3 interceptions, as Akiem Hicks put serious pressure to force the throw that Eddie Jackson jumped. All-in-all, it was another banner performance from this phenomenal front!Let’s get to the fun, shall we?Week 4 at the BuccaneersSack 1 - First quarter 7:11 (2nd & 15) - Akiem HicksHicks beats right guard Caleb Benenoch almost immediately. Watch Hicks’ hands closely as he swipes Benenoch’s hands away before beating him with an outside rip move. This is just about as bad as you can beat another player one-on-one. Sack 2 - Second quarter 11:33 (3rd & 11) - Khalil MackI am starting to get a feel for what Khalil Mack does. He has several signature moves, and this is another one. He sets up the right tackle Demar Dotson by getting straight up-field, instead of trying to cut the edge early. The reason he does this is to get the tackle to “over-set” and turn his back towards the line of scrimmage. At this point Womens Eric Kush Jersey , he has a huge head-of-steam built up and converts that speed-to-power, and obliterate his opponent. Watch the still shot where you can see where Mack has a chunk of jersey, and has Dotson under control from the snap of the ball. The finish with the swipe for his 4th-consecutive strip-sack is otherworldly. Sack 3 - Third quarter 7:49 (1st & 10) - Roy Robertson-Harris & Bilal NicholsInitially it looks like Eddie Goldman and Aaron Lynch are going to win on this play but just a few frames later and it’s completely flipped. Bilal Nichols stright bull rushes Benenoch back into Jameis Winston, while RRH slow plays left tackle Donovan Smith and gives a quick swim move to get inside leverage. If it wasn’t for RRH losing his balance, Winston might have not gotten up from the hit that was coming. But this was a great effort all around and both players deserve the credit for this sack. Sack 4 - Third quarter 0:16 (1st & 10) - Aaron LynchThis is a great effort from the front-4 here. Lynch, who ends up with the sack, never gives up and ends up with the reward, but he isn’t the only one with a great effort on this play. His outside rip move beats Dotson, but Winston steps up and he has to work back around. Leonard Floyd appears to get held 2 separate times on this play http://www.chicagobearsteamonline.com/danny-trevathan-jersey , and almost notches his first sack of the season. And outside, RRH is playing patty cake until he helps finish Winston off. Pressure of the WeekThird quarter 11:19 (1st & 10) - Khalil MackCould have gone with the aforementioned Hicks play, but this one directly lead to the interception. Mack almost got his second swipe strip-sack of the game, but this works just as well. He got just enough of the ball to have it float into Danny Trevathan’s hands for the interception. For some reason, pulling left guard Ali Marpet to block Mack seemed like a good idea to Dirk Koetter. Mack takes him on, swims to the outside and then set his sights on Winston’s right arm. Here’s how I have the individual* Rush Report after week 4.Khalil Mack - 4Team Sacks - 3Akiem Hicks - 2Roy Robertson-Harris - 1.5Aaron Lynch - 1.5Roquan Smith - 1Eddie Goldman - 1Danny Trevathan - 1Sherrick McManis - 1SINO - 1Bilal Nichols - 0.5Bryce Callahan - 0.5*These numbers do not reflect a players official statistics.