Montez Sweat’s insight into o-line protection concepts separates him from the pack
The more time Montez Sweat spends with the Chicago Bears, the more it becomes apparent that trading for him was another homerun for Ryan Poles. Sweat’s impact on the Bears defense cannot be understated. The Bears went from a middle-of-the-pack unit to the best rush defense in the NFL. The secondary also saw significant improvements during the second half of the season as well.
Sweat is a physical beast, he has it all, strength, speed, elusiveness, and perhaps most importantly, intelligence. In an interview with 670 The Score, Eric Washington revealed that he has never seen a player like Montez Sweat.
Washington said he had never seen a player with Sweat’s ability to read and identify what the opponent’s offensive line is doing. Sweat is so good at reading an offensive line, he is seeing things that the 17-year veteran coach doesn’t see.
#Bears DC Eric Washington told us that Montez Sweat addressed the offensive line about how he sees protection concepts. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that in my 17 years.”
— Mark Grote (@grotesports) August 21, 2024
This is high praise coming from Eric Washington. Washington has conducted his fair share of NFL defensive units, some great ones in fact. He has had some superstar defenders on those teams as well. Luke Kuechly, Julius Peppers, Jared Allen and Kawann Short just to name a few.
Those are some of football’s most dominant and memorable defenders of the last 10 years. That is all to say Washington has been around the league a long time, and has seen a lot of great players. For him to say that Montez Sweat is seeing things that even he can’t see is mind blowing.
As great as Sweat is, he needs a partner in crime on the defensive line
Every great pass rusher needs a Robin to his Batman. One elite pass rusher can’t get things done by himself. In order to be as effective as possible, a defensive line needs a dynamic duo of edge rushers who can pour on pressure from both sides of the line.
The Bears did not address this need in free agency as many expected they would. Instead the Bears decided to draft a young edge rushing prospect. The team hopes that their young guy can become Montez Sweat’s duo for the future.
The Bears drafted Kansas edge rusher Austin Booker in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Booker is a project pick, he has not ironed all the kinks out of his game just yet. He has very solid fundamentals and has impressed this preseason.
Montez Sweat stated that he is impressed by Booker and where the rookie is in his development.
“He’s just a tremendous talent; really light years ahead of where a rookie should be,” Sweat said. “I’m excited for the year and what he brings to the table.”
“He’s starting to notice how guys like to block him,” Sweat said. “He’s trying out new moves and he’s just learning the defense and learning how to move faster within it.”
If Sweat thinks Booker is developing quickly, he probably is. Sweat clearly has an eye for what it takes to be a great edge rusher. If anyone knows what good growth looks like at that position, its him.
The defensive line is still a big question for the Bears. Not in the rush defense category, they had that locked down in 2023. The Bears boasted the best rushing defense in the NFL, and that trend should continue this upcoming season.
The NFL’s Next Gen Stats shows that the Bears struggled heavily to create pressure on opposing quarterbacks in 2023. The Bears ranked 26th in pressure rate, which is not great if you want to have a deep playoff run.
The key to the Bears success on defense could very well be finding a threatening presence to play opposite of Montez Sweat. Creating pressure opposite of Sweat means teams can no longer afford to consistently double team Sweat. Which leaves him one-on-one opportunities for him to wreck plays.
If Austin Booker proves to be ahead of schedule in his development, that would be huge for this defense.
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