Chicago Bears: Potential Break Out Players (Defense)
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Demontre Hurst
Most Bears depth charts have Tim Jennings starting in the slot over Hurst, which makes sense considering Jennings has made the Pro Bowl in two of the last three seasons. The problem for Jennings is that the Bears are no longer running the cover 2 scheme that he excelled in. New DC Vic Fangio runs a much more aggressive coverage scheme which requires corners who can be physical at the line of scrimmage before dropping into a modified zone coverage. It’s possible Jennings can adjust to Fangio’s scheme and excel in the slot, but its far from a sure thing.
Hurst’s skill set fits much better in Fangio’s scheme on paper at least. He was the Bears most aggressive corner last season with the ability to jam receivers and great timing breaking on the ball. Hurst is not only bigger than Jennings, but plays more aggressively and has extremely long arms for his size. Hurst has also shown good blitzing instincts which will be more of a factor in Fangio’s scheme than it was in Mel Tucker’s vanilla scheme last season. Hurst made his share of mistakes last year, but it was his first season as a starting slot corner and he showed enough promise on tape for me to think that he can not only beat out Jennings for the slot corner job, but be a play-maker for the Bears defense this season.
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David Bass
Has shown flashes of being a play-maker in limited snaps over the last two seasons. Bass is one of the few Bears D-linemen who is better off with the switch to a 3-4 scheme. He was under-sized as a 4-3 DE but is a more natural fit as an OLB in a 3-4. Bass has a good burst off the ball, solid football instincts, a good motor, and explosive closing speed. He lacks the strength to set the edge vs the run and struggles in coverage, but neither should be an issue in Fangio’s scheme as the OLBs are primarily tasked with getting to the QB.
Bass is behind some more established names on the depth chart like Lamarr Houston and Jared Allen, but I think he’s a better fit for Fangio’s scheme. He has a better burst off the line than either guy, more closing speed (4.69 40-time), and better short-area quickness (4.33 20-yard shuttle, top-5 among DEs in his draft class). The athleticism is there for Bass to win the job and he’s shown good enough instincts in limited playing time for the Bears that I think he could end up with a significant role for the Bears this season.