3 Random thoughts on the Chicago Bears trading away Roquan Smith

The Baltimore Ravens are getting an excellent player in Roquan Smith

I’m not going to sit here and bash a player who has been excellent for this franchise — at least on the field — just because he’s no longer here. Too many fans like to do this. They see a player leave and try to justify the move by saying, “well, he wasn’t that great, to begin with.” Nonsense. Roquan Smith is still a top-five linebacker in the NFL and arguably a top-three. His play on the field and his stats show it.

Even this season as he’s had some up-and-down games, Roquan Smith has made some big impacts. He secured the win over the Texans in the fourth quarter with the first of his two interceptions of the year. He has had some impactful tackles for loss as well. Not to mention, he leads the league in combined tackles this season with 83. We are only through eight games and he has more combined tackles than some do all season. He’s coming off his worst game of the year vs the Cowboys, but let’s not pretend he’s not a top off-the-ball linebacker in the game.

The Ravens are going to instantly improve on defense. They have had some struggles with their current inside linebackers, but putting Roquan Smith next to Patrick Queen will make for a fantastic inside duo.