Who has the best Edge Rusher group in the division?
As we enter the dog days of the offseason it is time to turn our attention to the season coming. For this series, we will examine every position group in the NFC North and see where the Bears group of players fit in. This will include depth as well as top end talent. This should be a good exercise to see where the Bears stand in both depth and talent, then look back at the end of the season and see who exceeded or failed to meet expectations. For the first position, we will look at edge rushers.
4. Lions:
Ezekiel Ansah, Cornelius Washington, Kerry Hyder, Anthony Zettel, Armonty Bryant
The Lions have a very underwhelming front, in general, coming into the season. Ansah is the big name but is coming off of a down year. The former Pro Bowl level player had just two sacks last season after 14.5 of the year before. He was injured most of the year and should be able to bounce back a bit. However, he will need to get back to his dominant play of 2015 for this front to have a chance to move up in the rankings.
It is not just Ansah, the team has little to put with him. Hyder rotated in and out last season and did put up eight sacks. However, a rotational pass rusher is what he is and there is not much higher of a ceiling there. Bryant and Zettel are rotational pieces as well and Washington is a cast off from the Bears. If the Lions are not getting a high amount of sacks from Ansah, the unit is going to be far below average. The best he can do is get them to mediocre.