Bears at Vikings: Top Storylines for Week 15

Willie Young, The 3-4 Rusher

Oct 11, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Chicago Bears linebacker

(97) and defensive tackle

(95) celebrate after sacking Kansas City Chiefs quarterback

(not shown) in the first half at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome back, Willie Young.

Last years double-digit sack machine seems to have fully recovered from his torn Achilles, and looks to have found his place in Vic Fangio’s hybrid 3-4 defense.

Throughout the year Young has blatantly said that he is not a linebacker.

Let him believe whatever he wants to believe, but make sure on Sundays that he is lined up in a two point stance trying to get after the passer.

For the season, Young now leads the Bears in sacks with 5.5. If you asked anyone, no one would have predicted that Young would have bounced back from injury and a scheme change this well.

On Sunday, Young played in 56 total snaps (80%). This resulted in a day that Young had 4 tackles, 1 sack, 3 tackles for a loss, and 2 quarterback hits – a pretty productive outing.

At the very least, Young is becoming a more valuable trade piece for the Bears come this offseason. With McPhee battling a knee injury, the jury is still out if the Bears will push him to play each of these last games.

However, this truly may be the very best situation. Pernell can recover for next season, and Young can build up his overall value through ample snaps.

What will become of Willie Young, the 3-4 rusher? That is yet to be determined, but as of right now it seems promising.

Next: Youth