The Chicago Bears made it official on Wednesday introducing Pernell McPhee, Ryan Pace’s first big free agent acquisition. And when I say big, I mean 6-3 280 pounds of big, mean outside linebacker:
"“I’m violent, and that’s all you need, to be violent,” he said with a deep chuckle."
It’s encouraging to see someone with a little edge to them to bring some attitude back to the Bears defense. Ryan Pace got his top target, a disruptive force who will fit into the Bears new rebuilt defense.
"“I just want to say how excited we are with the addition of Pernell McPhee,” Pace said. “This is a player we targeted right from the onset. He is a highly productive, disruptive and versatile defender. This guy not only brings the top physical talent but also the right mentality and makeup to improve our football team.”"
Pace sees McPhee as a versatile and disruptive defender who wins one-on-one matchups:
"“There are a couple things that stand out with him,” Pace said. “First of all, he’s disruptive. He hits the quarterback a ton. I think he’s an ascending player. I like the violence that he plays with. He’s got length, gets off blocks. I think he’s a well-rounded player, too. He’s a productive pass rusher but also a steady, consistent run defender.”"
It’s true that McPhee is an ascending player. He only played about half of the Ravens defensive snaps but still piled up 7.5 sacks, 21 QB hits and 35 QB hurries, leading the Ravens in the latter categories.
It’s nice for the Bears to get a player in free agency in his mid-20’s rather than on the wrong side of 30.
Can McPhee translate his numbers over an increased workload? He’ll get plenty of opportunities to play OLB in the base 3-4 defense, but can also kick inside in sub packages of Vic Fangio’s scheme. The big key for McPhee is to stay healthy:
"The knee and groin injuries that hindered him in 2012? The shoulder injury that lingered last year?“They’re awesome right now,” McPhee said. “God done touched ’em.”"
John Fox has seen a lot of pass rushers in his days and had a pretty good comp for McPhee:
"“He’s able to use his hands very well,” Fox said. “He’s not what I would define as a speed rusher, but an outstanding rusher. Comparisons, I don’t like doing those very often, but kind of [like] Mike Strahan does it with really good technique, really good hands and good leverage. [McPhee] plays with good lean and he pushes the pocket very, very well.”"
So why did McPhee choose the Bears over other teams, I mean, besides the 5-year, $40 million contract:
"“I wanted to come and be a part of bringing that tradition back,” McPhee said. “You know; a hard-nosed playing defense, play with violence, play with an attitude, play with a swag—just go out there and dominant the game.”"
I think all Bears fans would love to see McPhee bring that tradition back to the Bears defense which posted the two worst defensive outputs in team history.