Chicago Bears: Grading the defensive position groups

Khalil Mack is out to show the league why he is one of the most feared players in all the NFL

Outside Linebackers: Khalil Mack, Rober Quinn, Trevis Gipson, Barkevious Mingo, James Vaunters

Grade: A

The Bears have a very feared pass rush and a lot of it comes down to one man, and that is superstar Khalil Mack. Mack came over to the Bears in a 2018 trade with the Raiders, and he made his presence felt right away.

Leading the Chicago Bears with 12.5 sacks his first year with the team, Mack was dominating opposing teams offensive lines week-in and week-out. While some would say Mack had a down year in 2019, and to an extent that may be true. He still recorded 8.5 sacks, with four forced fumbles, tied for fourth in the league, while seeing double teams regularly.

The presence of Mack being on the field strikes fear in an offense and will open up opportunities for others.  Someone looking to benefit greatly off the play of Mack will be veteran and newcomer Robert Quinn.

Quinn is entering his first year with the Bears after reviving his career in Dallas. Now we can’t talk about Quinn without bringing up that he has been conspicuously absent from camp with really no information when all of a sudden this week word gets out he has an ankle injury.

While he may be a rotational player this week, fans have to expect Quinn to get on the field sooner or later. There has been a lot of talk all offseason that he is a 4-3 DE and will struggle to play 3-4 OLB. Without participating in camp we will see how much of the playbook Quinn is comfortable with. Playing across Mack should help his case of course.

Closing out the position with rookie Trevis Gipson, a former first-round pick for the Browns, Barkevious Mingo, and special teamer James Vaunters. If Quinn is going to miss some time Mingo and Gipson will have bigger roles than originally thought. If I had to pick one of these guys to show out it would be Gipson. Expect the Bears to see what they have in the rookie.