No he's not. Part of a Sam's primary responsibility is to key a TE/play a big role in zone coverage. This kid's skillset isn't comparable to that, because he's a downhill, 2-down run stuffer who college QBs attacked in the passing situations. I'm sure he can jam a TE, but hang with one in a passing situation? Uhhhh, nothing about his college ball/profile says he can do that.
Turning a 6'2, 250 lb LB into a DE to be your 3rd DE in the rotation when he's never played DE or even edge rusher, doesn't have the length, and as a blitzing LB, has a glaring weakness of being unable to shed blocks once an IOL gets in his way? That's the kind of mismatch smart QBs like the fucker up in Green Bay look for pre-snap, hell even the dumb ones like in Detroit can figure out.
This is the kind of stuff fans like to do, and its mock draft time--so its time to have some fun speculating, I get it. Real GMs usually get fired when they make a habit of drafting a guy to be something he's not. Not trying to be a prick--this guy just seems like a waste of a 3rd round pick when he's essentially a ST ace.
If the bears had kept Desai and the 3-4, and this kid replaced/competed in camp with Ogletree for the ILB2 spot on 1st and 2nd downs, I'd be all for picking this kid being the change of pace while Quan is the do-it-all ILB. There are other/better LBs for this scheme out there.
(all scouting tidbits/paraphrasing from profootballnetwork and nfldraftbuzz.com)
This is only a quick thought, but isn't the defense (the Colts defense at least) all about trying to get pressure from the front 4 and having the rest cover?
I can agree that someone having Chenal's skillset could be an interesting chess piece, but first and foremost, anyone being brought in has to have his first skill set as a coverage linebacker.
Maybe the Bears are planning on having bigger defensive interior linemen to keep offensive linemen off of the defenders, allowing them to have clean runs at RBs and the QB on rare blitzes. If this is the case, a smaller sideline to sideline linebacker could be more valuable than a thumper linebacker with some coverage skills.
Remember that even Kwit was somewhat of a liability on passing downs, and that was after some huge improvements. He sure had an eye for the sack though.
Actually, if you trade Quinn and consider Roquon the heir to Butkus/Singletary/Urlacher, this guy might be an intriguing add as a two-down WILL or SAM who can rush the passer on 1st/2nd down and who can be worked into the rotation on third down as a pass rusher with Gipson/Mack as a rookie.
Plus, getting him would not disrupt a plan that badly if you get a second and third in the 2022 draft. Finding help for WR, O-Line, and CB2 on day 2 would still be possible.
You've made a good argument . I could be wrong but doesn't seem like any great 4-3 defense has blitzed the MLB that often to where you'd sacrifice speed and coverage for pass rush.
Different defense but same position - how many times in the last couple years did we see receivers coming wide open on crossing routes against Trevathan.
Seems like he could be a liability in man coverage especially against crossing routes at the least.
The major knock on Chenal is that he isn't able to pass cover the way that we expect a Middle Linebacker to be able to. We saw Urlacher cover the middle of the field with the other two able to cover shorter zones and rush once in a while. Now, yes, we don't know the exact D that they are going to play in Chicago.
We do know several things:
1.) We may not have a penetrating 3 Tech. Hicks may not be back. Goldman never really showed it, but, to be fair, he wasn't asked to, and, either way, he is a strong cut candidate. So, apart from bringing in Gipson inside as a speed DT, we won't have pressure up front to collapse the pocket. This is a surefire way to negate the two rush Ends of Quinn and Mack.
2.) The way to kill the Tampa 2 is by using a drag route, basically a route that runs straight and then breaks inside parallel to the los. LA loves doing this with bunch trips and an X on the opposite side. Regardless of who is playing LB, the drag will annihilate the Tampa 2, but it takes at least 2 seconds to set up. We can hit the QB before the outside or slot receiver hits the drag, usually with some crossing pick, especially if we can cause the QB to adjust to a blitz.
3.) Flus' mentality is to try to set up 3rd downs to bring the heat. Though it appears that the Colts didn't blitz often, it was more due to a lack of talent than anything. They really tried to bring the heat. Again, this doesn't mean that it's exactly what the Bears will do, it's just a baseline of past performance to portend future results.
So, the way I see Chenal being devastating is when he does his initial LB check step, he should always check step open to pass instead of check step run. By check step to pass, the QBs initial eye will be him opening to pass, but what he's really doing is using the check step to create a delay blitz that allows for him to hit the open hole on the A gap.
This brings me to why I don't see him on the Strong side or as a Rush end: I don't want him bending in on a rush. I want him going straight downhill and hitting dudes in the backfield. He is at his best identifying, running straight down hill into something, and obliterating it. Play to it.
With a legitimate Sam next to him in Roquan, he would also have support over the top with the backs in the shell, whether 1 or 2 high, so he can fill and know something is coming behind him. Should he have the type of DT that can two gap up front with the necessary attention Mack, Quinn, or Gibson would get coming off of the edge, he can hit the opening up front from the initial check step delay blitz to cause easy sacks or pressures.
So, as a Mug middle LB, he can provide the A/B gap pressure that the premium 3-techs do, but without having to figure out how to get them, as they are going very very high in this draft. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see 7, yes 7, DTs go before we pick!
The lesson that the Super Bowl showed was the Bengals would have won if Aaron Donald didn't hit that sack. So, I see maybe 2 QBs drafted in the first, almost like the 2013 Ej Manuel draft with a run on OL, DL, and WR.
So, in his rookie year, he would be a search and destroy dude, but, as he develops, he could be given different roles.
(edit: Sorry all! I tried to make this post a reply to several and messed it up. I'm reposting it as the reply that I wanted it to be.)
