Roquan Smith in rare company

[hebs]

Chicago Bears: Roquan Smith in rare territory at his age​

One of the benefits of drafting Roquan Smith was drafting one of the younger players in his draft class. Now, Smith will enter his fourth season in the NFL and will be just 24 years old when he does so. Considering his age 21, 22, and 23 were in the NFL, he has a head start on many players for long-term career achievements. Smith has 361 tackles. There are only two players who have recorded more tackles before they turned 24 years old. Check out the top 10 below


Table
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		Games	Tackles	Misc
Rk	Player	From	To	Draft	Tm	Lg	AV	G	GS	Sk	Solo	Ast	Comb ▼	TFL	QBHits	Yrs	PB	AP1
1	Luke Kuechly	2012	2014	1-9	CAR	NFL	41	48	48	6.0	295	178	473	31	7	3	2	2
2	Ray Lewis*	1996	1998	1-26	RAV	NFL	30	44	43	9.5	352	62	414			3	2	0
3	Roquan Smith	2018	2020	1-8	CHI	NFL	31	44	42	11.0	253	108	361	31	13	3	0	0
4	Landon Collins	2015	2017	2-33	NYG	NFL	29	47	47	4.0	262	79	341	17	8	3	2	1
5	Kwon Alexander	2015	2017	4-124	TAM	NFL	21	40	40	6.0	237	98	335	25	15	3	1	0
6	Budda Baker	2017	2019	2-36	CRD	NFL	21	46	36	3.5	240	83	323	18	7	3	2	1
7	Junior Seau*	1990	1992	1-5	SDG	NFL	33	47	46	12.5	316	0	316			3	2	1
8	Patrick Willis	2007	2008	1-11	SFO	NFL	30	32	32	5.0	245	70	315	16	10	2	2	1
9	Kyle Clifton	1984	1985	3-64	NYJ	NFL	14	32	25	0.0	273	0	273			2	0	0
10	Andre Collins	1990	1991	2-46	WAS	NFL	17	32	32	9.0	244	0	244			2	0	0

There is an argument to made that tackles are not a great start to measure success. If a tackle is made 10 yards down the field it is not as valuable as a stuff on third and three for a one-yard gain. When you look at the totality of the 10 men on the list, you can get a sense that this is not quite a 1-10 listing of the best starts to a career.
However, names that do show up on the list include Junior Seau, Patrick Willis, Ray Lewis, and Luke Kuechly.

Overall, only Ray Lewis and Luke Kuechly had more tackles to start their career. It is very true that tackles are not an end-all stat, but it is just as true that at some point when the only three guys to have over 350 are Lewis, Kuechly, and Smith, they are probably doing so because they are great players.
When looking at the career of Roquan Smith and how he compares to his peers, he does not stand out head and shoulders above others, although Darius Leonard and Fred Warner are an excellent company.

Still, beyond Leonard going to a small school, Smith was drafted ahead of him because Leonard will be turning 26 soon, while Smith just turned 24. They are about 21 months apart in age. When Leonard was in his age 24 season, it was his second NFL season, Smith will play his fourth year at age 24. So, last season Smith was at the age of Leonard in his rookie year. We just so happened to see Smith breakout and play similar to what Leonard had been doing since he was 23.
So, while you can argue that Leonard hit the ground running and Smith has slowly been catching up since, that is no surprise. The older player was ready to go, and the younger guy had some more maturing to do.
Now, Smith is entering his prime and should have a longer run in this prime than Leonard. This is why it is so unprecedented and special what Roquan Smith is doing. There just are not many athletes who can succeed in those age 21, 22, and 23 seasons in the way that Smith did.

Chicago Bears: Roquan Smith in rare territory at his age

Chicago Bears: Roquan Smith in rare territory at his age. One of the benefits of drafting Roquan Smith was drafting a younger player

beargoggleson.com

 

[Anytime23]

I thought the rare territory was gonna be him being a good top 10 Pace draft pick.

 

[botfly10]

jfc Keueueechly

wish that dude had been a bear

 

[Black Rainbow]

I thought the rare territory was gonna be him being a good top 10 Pace draft pick.

Fangio probably wanted him...lol.

 

[Da Coach]

He sure is. I don't know anyone else that got their laptop with an NFL playbook on it stolen

 

[Enasic]

He sure is. I don't know anyone else that got their laptop with an NFL playbook on it stolen

Fair jab. Quan has been good though. He’s an elite ILB. Haven’t seen enough to put him in special/HoF category, but if he keeps it up, he’ll enter the discussion. He needs to stay on the field and develop into a leader/captain of the D

 

[botfly10]

Fangio probably wanted him...lol.

he was basically the only blue chip prospect left when the bears picked

 

[The Big Grabowski]

Kuechly was on Move The Sticks last month and he mentioned Roquan when they asked him about young LBers he had his eye on.

 

[Nelly]

Lewis and Kuechly. Nice company there.

 

[Montucky]

I don’t think I ever saw a linebacker quite reach the highs Luke Keuchly did in his short career. Maybe 2018 Khalil Mack comes close. I am also too young for Lawrence Taylor.

Roquan Smith is a nice player but he doesn’t make game altering plays. It’s just not his strong suit and unfortunately it’s the type of player the Bears sorely need and are in very short supply of. That said I’m fine paying him because these everydown guys are what gives your defensive playmakers in the secondary and at the edges more bites at the apple. It’s the Vic Fangio philosophy: we’re fine giving up first downs as long as they aren’t big plays and as long as it takes opponents a few downs to move the sticks. Reasoning of course that over the course of a ten plus play drive a mistake is inevitable and that’s when a defensive playmaker can create a big sack or turnover that changes the game.

So if (more like when) Roquan Smith gets his veteran contract the Bears really need to be on the hunt for some players who can capitalize. Because right now I look around the defense and there are just zero big play guys anywhere anymore.

 

[dabears70]

I thought the rare territory was gonna be him being a good top 10 Pace draft pick.

Pace knocks another one out the ballpark haters.

 

[Anytime23]

Pace knocks another one out the ballpark haters.

Tired gimmick is tired.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

Roquan Smith is a nice player but he doesn’t make game altering plays

Yet, he's still very young he has gotten better every year.

 

[Les Grossman]

Bears LB Roquan Smith earns spot on NFL.com’s All-Under-25 Team

Bears LB Roquan Smith was one of the NFL's best inside linebackers in 2020. So his spot on the NFL's All-Under-25 Team is well-deserved.

www.yahoo.com

Bears LB Roquan Smith earns spot on NFL.com’s All-Under-25 Team​

Smith has been getting recognition this offseason as among some of the league’s best young talent. That includes NFL.com’s All-Under-25 Team, where Smith joined Fred Warner at inside linebacker.

 

[dabears70]

Tired gimmick is tired.

 

[knoxville7]

All this recognition is just going to mean more $$$. Bears will need to pay this man and get him locked up

 

[Anytime23]

Odd gif in reply to a post that had 4 words in it.

 

[Mdbearz]

We have exercised his 5th year option, right?

I would hope that we can nail down a contract extension early in the off season next year.

 

[dabears70]

Odd gif in reply to a post that had 4 words in it.

 

[Da Coach]

Fair jab. Quan has been good though. He’s an elite ILB. Haven’t seen enough to put him in special/HoF category, but if he keeps it up, he’ll enter the discussion. He needs to stay on the field and develop into a leader/captain of the D

Yes I was just breaking his balls. He's was my favorite pace pick until Fields.