When Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen surveyed the talent on his defense, he focused attention on the line, where there is an obvious need for help.
He definitely came away from his first glance happy with the secondary.
"I felt like there were some pieces in place," Allen said. "In particular, I think there's some things that we have in the secondary that I like. There are some pieces at linebacker that I'm encouraged by."
Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards have to feel positive about this. It was just last month that Overthecap.com listed a projection of potential salary cap cuts for all teams and the Bears had five on the chart, including both of their starting linebackers. The projection was basically a guess based on
"I like the fact that they have some man coverage ability, we've got some versatility at the safety position. I see the fit," Allen said.
While there are players who stand to benefit on offense from Ben Johnson's attack, there are also players who can do the same on defense with Allen's scheme.
Here are the players on the Bears defense who could be elevated most by playing in Allen's 4-3 defense.
CB Tyrique Stevenson
When Allen said he liked the pieces in the secondary he expressed particular delight in the size and reach of the cornerbacks. In particular, Stevenson fits here. At 6-foot, 204 pounds, he seems a perfect fit for the scheme because of the use of both man-to-man and zone. Allen's DBs have always been very physical, at safety or cornerback, and Stevenson's tackling ability has often been praised by Bears assistants despite the mental gaffes he had at times.
Co-director of player personnel Trey Koziol had called it a general goal of the defense to get bigger defensive backs when both Stevenson and Terell Smith were drafted, and praised Stevenson's man-to-man coverage ability.
It's going to be on Stevenson to continue the improvement he showed over the final four games last season when he seemed to be taking a more mature approach. The Hail Mary pass may have triggered Stevenson into action.
LB Tremaine Edmunds
Edmunds didn't have the greatest two years in Matt Eberflus' scheme. He made more big plays in 2023 than this past season and the linebackers were part of the run defense declining from first in the league to 28th. This scheme can be different for Edmunds by letting him be more active all over the field.
Veteran Demario Davis made All-Pro first or second team in this scheme as a middle linebacker five straight years. Edmunds' athletic ability, long reach and speed could allow him to bring more big plays to the position. He may need a big season in it because his contract would be easily cut after 2025 with $15 million in cap savings and $2.44 million in dead cap space.
LB T.J. Edwards
Edwards has had the tackler's position in Matt Eberflus' old scheme. He played the weakside linebacker position. In doing so, he has piled up 284 tackles in two seasons and had 61 more tackles than Edmunds did. However, in New Orleans the middle linebacker has been the more active tackler in Allen's scheme and weakside Pete Werner has had just 185 tackles in two seasons.
It's possible some of the responsibilities for both Edwards and Edmunds could be altered in this scheme, or the coaches could look at the two and like the idea of using Edwards in the middle instead of on the weakside. All of that will be sorted out in spring minicamp.
DE Montez Sweat
In the same position, defensive end Cameron Jordan made 86 1/2 sacks in an eight-year stretch playing in the Allen defense. Sweat showed he's capable of such numbers with 12 1/2 in 2023 but last year dropped off to 5 1/2 and hinted a few times about the lack of strategy to combat double-teaming or chipping on his side. Apparently Allen's scheme addressed this well enough to free up Jordan for some solid sack numbers for the better part of a decade. It's possible they could do it here, although the presence of another edge rusher and/or the return of defensive tackle Andrew Billings can make a bigger difference.
DB Kyler Gordon
More blitzing by the nickel or more exotic coverages seem to be on the way after hearing how much Allen liked Gordon.
"Kyler Gordon, is an outstanding nickel player," Allen said. "I have a vision for how we can utilize him. I think the foundation for what we want to do is there."
The Bears did a fair job of getting a variety of plays from Gordon under Eberflus. Allen already seems to be plotting up new ways.
S Jaquan Brisker
The scheme in New Orleans relied greatly on very active twin safeties who were basically interchangeable. Brisker has always wanted to play more in back than the Bears let him under Eberflus and commented on it. At times, he almost seemed like a strong safety. They seemed to avoid this last year at the season's outset but then he suffered a third concussion in three seasons.
If Brisker is truly past the concussion issues, the safety position could be ideal for him because he'll get to play all over the field rather than always come down into the box in run situations.
