We at Bear Goggles On have decided to count down the days until the Chicago Bears’ regular season opener on September 13th against their arch-rivals, the Green Bay Packers. As of today, there are 91 days until the big day, giving us a reason to give you a profile on the Bears’ #91 David Bass.
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Defensive end David Bass started his career after being drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the seventh round of the 2013 draft. He played his college ball at Missouri Western State and was eventually picked up by the Bears in his rookie season after being released.
In limited playing time Bass has had some good production and definitely has shown flashes of athleticism and starter capability. In two seasons with the Bears in limited playing time, he has appeared in 20 games, has four sacks, 33 tackles, one forced fumble and one interception that he returned for a touchdown.
On that touchdown, Bass made a very athletic play to tip a pass from Baltimore’s Joe Flacco, catch it and take it to the house. In October, the Bears waived Bass and he was sent down to the practice squad only to be brought back onto the 53-man roster after the injury to overpaid DE Lamarr Houston.
Coming out of a division II college and getting recognized is not easy, but Bass has shown that he belongs in the NFL. The question is can he be an every down DE or OLB in the NFL? Bass’ pre-draft scouting report stated that he was a solid athlete with impressive speed (4.82 at the combine, 4.69 at pro-day) and great lateral quickness. On the field, he’s a natural pass-rusher and has always shown the ability to be durable in his college and NFL career.
Nov 17, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears defensive end David Bass (91) celebrates scoring a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens during the first half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports
What to Expect From Bass in 2015…
Even though it’s very early, the projected depth charts have Bass slated as an outside linebacker in Vic Fangio’s new 3-4 defense, and that’s exactly where he should be. Bass was a “tweener” coming out of college as he was slated as a little under-sized for an NFL DE.
Bass, Shea McClellin and Cornelius Washington will be each other’s main competition in camp. They are all holdovers from the previous regime that will be tried initially at outside linebacker. I’m not sure how they will fit in that role and special teams will certainly play a part in roster decisions for backups. Washington gets the special teams nod based off of what we saw last season.
Bass will need to emerge in the area of special teams to help his chances of making the roster in 2015 and I think with his speed and athleticism, he will. Personally, I think you’ll see a slimmed down Bass that has the ability to succeed as a pass-rushing OLB. Even with a jumbled up mess at OLB, with his very impressive athletic skills as well as his natural ability to get to the quarterback, I expect Bass to emerge as a key player on the new defense.
This new leadership regime has zero ties to first round bust McClellin, and I think they’ll see that Bass is the better player. One thing is for sure, you can never have too many passer rushers in today’s NFL.
What are your expectations of Bass this season, BGO readers?
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