The Chicago Bears new defensive coordinator will be pressed with a variety of challenges
Overall, the Chicago Bears hiring Sean Desai as their defensive coordinator makes a ton of sense. His familiarity with Vic Fangio helps avoid rocking the boat. Still, beyond that, the team is looking at a young, up and comer who has been working hard for this chance.
Now, he has a chance to add a few new-school wrinkles to the old scheme. Still, before we crown Dessai as the next Vic Fangio, we have to see his plan in action.
The defense took a step back last season and cannot maintain that play to stay competitive. What are 5 things that Sean Dessai must address this offseason?
5. Dropping Robert Quinn in coverage
If you were to list just one reason why Chuck Pagano infuriated you, this would be it. When the Chicago Bears signed Robert Quinn, we wrote that he is not Leonard Floyd. He was better at pass-rushing, but nowhere near as versatile.
The issue is that Pagano used Quinn similarly to Floyd. To be fair, Floyd dropped into coverage over 100 times, while Quinn did just 31. Still, that is a career-high for Quinn, and almost half of his career coverage snaps coming just last season.
31 is far too many snaps for Quinn to be dropping. Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees would notice when Quinn dropped and immediately attack. It was a clear weakness.
On one hand, Vic Fangio defenses call for linebackers in coverage. On the other, Vic Fangio’s defense means putting your players in a position to win. That means no Robert Quinn in coverage. Will Sean Dessai drop him back less than Chuck Pagano? He had better.