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Bears ILB Update Following Game Three


soulman

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Chicago Bears linebacker competition update

After three weeks of the preseason, where do the Chicago Bears stand in their linebacker depth?

One of the important position battles to watch in the third week of the preseason was at linebacker. Yes, Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan are entrenched as starters. They sat out this game, mainly because they stand so far ahead of the rest.

This does bring the question of how do you sort out the rest? Nick Kwiatkowski, Joel Iyiegbuniwe, Josh Woods, and Kevin Pierre-Louis were all competing for two, and maybe three spots on the roster. The group has been up and down all preseason. Was there any movement in the third game?

Kwiatkowski started and played his best football of the preseason. He made plays against the run, as a pass rusher and in coverage. Kevin Pierre-Louis started next to Kwiatkowski, but Kwiatkowski looked to be the clear cut better player.

He has locked himself in as the number three. The question is whether Pierre-Louis is locked in as the number four. Woods and Iggy played well, but their best efforts were either late in the second quarter or in the second half altogether.

Pierre-Louis struggled as a starter, but Woods was poor as a starter last week and Iggy has not even been afforded that chance.

At this point, it is hard to say Pierre-Louis has done anything to get pushed down the depth chart. Woods made some key plays, but for as many plays as he puts himself in, he can take himself out.

Look for Woods and Iggy to find themselves on the practice squad as the other two have proven that they are NFL capable back ups.

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Nick's ability to play will be dependent on what he is asked to do. He isn't going to cover athletic TEs on seam routes or wheel routes from most RBs. But if you want a guy to be physical and give some occasional passrush he can do the job. I think if he goes in it is going to be in a more limited role, and will take on the dirty work to try and keep Smith clean to make plays in space. His pay bump is inconsequential and I highly doubt they are looking for a vet to come in like Teo or Bynes. I agree that it will be KPL and Kwiatkowski as the gameday reserves and Woods and Iggy go to the practice squad.

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If the game was played between tackles Kwit would be a stand out player.   His lateral agility is the problem. 

To be fair to our ILbs in preseason they are playing a lot behind Bullard and RRH. 

Neither one eats blocks. It’s really hard to play LB in a 3-4 without block eaters.  It makes them look worse than they are. 

If you put Hicks and Goldman in front of them They would suddenly be running around looking a lot better.  

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Kwiatkoski has become a savvy vet who as he always has relies on great instincts to at least partially cover his more limited speed and athleticism.  He doesn't make many mistakes but team can pick on him in the passing game because of his lack of speed.  Despite that I believe he still makes the cut because he can also contribute on ST.

Pierre-Louis has somewhat that same advantage of having managed to have stuck around in the NFL for 5 seasons based mostly on his ST play.  Plainly he keeps his mistakes to a minimum which endears him to DCs and STCs but he's here mostly because guys like Woods and Iggy have not yet ascended to his level of play.  That's disappointing.

Between Woods and Iggy from my perspective Woods is definitely the better run stopper but he's also slow to read and there have been plays where he's over pursued and taken himself out of position to make a stop.  Iggy seems to have some of Roquan Smith's skills as a cover LB and pass rusher but that's where it stops.  He can't play the run well as a run stopper.

Iggy made the roster last year more or less based on his ST play but with Pierre-Louis now in the picture that may not be enough.  In any case we could probably sneak both Iggy and Woods onto the PS with little fear they'd be claimed on waivers.  Were we still in a major rebuilding mode we'd be more likely to keep one or both but when you're shooting for a championship it may make more sense to go with those who while more limited athletically simply don't make as many mistakes that can hurt you.

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22 hours ago, Sugashane said:

Nick's ability to play will be dependent on what he is asked to do. He isn't going to cover athletic TEs on seam routes or wheel routes from most RBs. But if you want a guy to be physical and give some occasional passrush he can do the job. I think if he goes in it is going to be in a more limited role, and will take on the dirty work to try and keep Smith clean to make plays in space. His pay bump is inconsequential and I highly doubt they are looking for a vet to come in like Teo or Bynes. I agree that it will be KPL and Kwiatkowski as the gameday reserves and Woods and Iggy go to the practice squad.

Were Kwiatkowski to be forced into regular action I’m guessing on passing downs we’d see him come off in favor of Bush or maybe even Iggy/Woods. Can’t have him trying to cover receiving TEs or we’re giving up a lot of first downs on 3rd and long. 

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