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Chicago Bears Roster Breakdown 2016: Defense

By Mike Curran

Oct 4, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears nose tackle Eddie Goldman (91) celebrates with Chicago Bears defensive end Jarvis Jenkins (96), Chicago Bears outside linebacker Pernell McPhee (92) and Chicago Bears linebacker Lamarr Houston (99) after he sacked Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) in the first half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 4, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears nose tackle Eddie Goldman (91) celebrates with Chicago Bears defensive end Jarvis Jenkins (96), Chicago Bears outside linebacker Pernell McPhee (92) and Chicago Bears linebacker Lamarr Houston (99) after he sacked Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) in the first half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

Inside Linebackers

Projected Starters: Danny Trevathan & Jerrell Freeman

Both Trevathan and Freeman are free agents that were slotted to start since they signed their contracts.

Depth: John Timu & Jonathan Anderson

The preseason depth chart has Timu and Anderson as the back-up inside linebackers, which comes as a pretty big surprise to most. When rookie Nick Kwiatkowski was drafted in the 4th round most believed he was a lock to make the 53 man roster. Unfortunately a nagging hamstring injury during camp has significantly reduced his chances to make the final cut. There is a scenario in play where the bears decide to put Kwiatkowski on the injured reserve list, which seems like the smart play. John Timu may have improved more than any other player from last year’s roster with much better awareness to go along with his rare athleticism.

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Best Case: The change at inside linebacker is a dramatic improvement from last year. Much love to Christian Jones, but Trevathan and Freeman are huge upgrades at the position. Danny Trevathan is a legitimate pro-bowl candidate this year, and Jerrell Freeman is the most underrated ILB to average 120 tackles per season for the last 4 seasons. The two combined will make for an amazing duo. This inside linebacker tandem could very well be the best 3-4 ILB combo in the league.

Worst Case: Much like the defensive line both Trevathan and Freeman are known quantities with a proven record of high-quality play. It will take some time for both of them to get comfortable with Fangio’s defensive scheme, but it’s doubtful that this will be much trouble for these savvy veterans. This position is without a doubt the best group on the defense and arguably the best on the team.

Cap Hit: Trevathan (6.4 mil), Freeman (4 mil), Anderson (525k), Timu (525k). Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman have the 6th and 17th ranked cap hits among all inside linebackers. But these two combined are still less than Clay Matthews or Lawrence Timmons. Inside linebacker was a huge area of weakness in 2015 (See Blaine Gabbert running all over the defense last year) and now might be the strongest part of the 2016 Chicago Bears. They are worth every penny of their cap hit. Take that Blaine Gabbert! Try and run on them now!!!

Projected 2016 Ranking: The inside linebacker position is obviously different between 3-4 defenses and 4-3 defenses so it’s hard to rank them. It’s not fair to compare two 3-4 inside linebackers to the play of one 4-3 middle linebacker. That being said this unit will be a strength of this team and top 5 in the league.

Next: Outside Linebackers

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