The Chicago Bears had a heavy focus this offseason on adding talent to the offensive and defensive lines to compete with the rest of the NFC North. One of those signings continues to show the potential the Bears have in him.
During Wednesday's practice at Bears training camp, defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo had a solid showing as he was named one of Bears Wire's Brendan Sugrue
's standouts from the workout. Multiple times throughout the practice Odeyingbo beat Bears tackles off the edge.
"The offensive line was doing their own version of the "Super Bowl Shuffle" on Wednesday, with more players being added to the left tackle competition. That didn't matter for defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo, who made his presence known against veteran Braxton Jones on multiple occasions. According to Marquee Sports' Nicholas Moreano, Odeyingbo got the best of Jones, particularly on one rep when he put the tackle on the ground during 1-on-1 drills. With so much attention centered on Austin Booker after this last weekend, don't forget about Odeyingbo, who is being counted on to play a major role on the defensive line this season."
Odeyingbo is shining in Bears training camp
Expectations were high for Odeyingbo when the Bears signed him to a three-year, $48 million deal in the offseason. All indications are that he is living up to those expectations, as he did the same thing last week, beating Jones off the edge multiple times.
It's good to see, as there were many questions about what kind of player Odeyingbo would be. He has never produced a 10+ sack season with the Colts in his first four NFL seasons, and he has only achieved five or more sacks in a year twice. In 2024, he had only three sacks on the season.
The flip side that many people don't discuss or see is that Odeyingbo can reach the quarterback. He's gone back-to-back years with 17 quarterback hits. It's all about him converting more of those into sacks.
Chicago hopes to have Odeyingbo take some of the pressure off on Montez Sweat off the edge and let him loose. Sweat only had 5.5 sacks a season ago, and the Bears need to have more defenders getting over or at least near 10 sacks, especially ones they are paying big money to.
Read more: New challenger enters Bears left tackle position battle no one saw coming
The Bears are building a solid defense in Chicago in 2025. Odeyingbo will play a critical role in ensuring they improve from last year and become the unit the team needs them to be.