Chicago Bears: LB Mason Foster Can Make Huge Impact
New Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is bringing his 3-4 defense to the Windy City. Under the same title with the San Francisco 49ers the past four seasons, Fangio led one of the most dominating defensive units of the era.
While Fangio leading the Bears’ defense is certainly exciting, they simply do not have anything close to the personnel that Fangio is used to from San Francisco. Not only were the Bears ranked towards the very bottom of the league in nearly every single defensive statistic last season, a huge majority of their players on that side of the ball are probably better suited for the 4-3 defense. Simply put, Fangio has his work cut out for him.
July 28, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio looks on during training camp at the Marie P. DeBartolo Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
If the Bears’ defense is going to have any success in 2015, they are going to need to get solid production from some relatively unexpected places. One player who I believe is primed to step-up and make that kind of contribution is inside linebacker Mason Foster, who the Bears signed to a one-year free agent contract this off season.
Foster joined the Bears after spending the first four years of his NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs drafted Foster in the third round (84th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft, and he stepped up as their starting middle linebacker right away, and had immediate success.
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Tampa Bay brought in fellow linebacker Lavonte David in 2012, and he and Foster quickly formed arguably the best young linebacker duo in the entire NFL. For the first three years of his career, Foster was free to roam the field and make plays, and he did so very successfully. Lovie Smith took over the Bucs’ head coaching job in 2014, and unfortunately, Foster never seemed to be a good fit for his defense.
Smith’s “Tampa 2” defense did not allow Foster the same kind of freedom that he had before. He seemed to struggle with the fit all season long, and even missed a big chunk of the season (six games) with a dislocated shoulder. Simply put, Foster did not have a very good 2014 season, and the Buccaneers cut bait.
Despite the poor season, I think Foster could become a valuable contributor for the Bears. He is a wide-ranging inside linebacker with impressive pure athleticism. Foster shows great speed and quickness in the open field, and is a very explosive hitter in the middle.
Foster’s skill-set certainly has a lot to do with my optimism on him this season, but Fangio certainly plays a huge role in this as well. Fangio did an incredible job in San Francisco with his inside linebackers. Whether it was Patrick Willis, NaVorro Bowman, Chris Borland, Michael Wilhoite or anyone else, the 49ers always had productive inside linebackers under Fangio. Sure, their talent certainly had a lot to do with it, but Fangio putting them in positions to succeed deserves some praise as well.
I am not saying that Foster will automatically become Patrick Willis, but I think his skills translate to this aggressive and attacking style of defense very well. Foster has a great opportunity to get his career back on track under Fangio this season, and the Bears could end up becoming huge beneficiaries in that.
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