Mack Best on the Edge

Even in their 30s, two Bears defensive players rank among the league's best according to one web site.

Bears new defensive coordinator Sean Desai said he wanted to have a palpable defense.

There may be no better two players to make his defense's presence felt than Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks, and it's been recognized by Pro Football Focus.

The website often has been down on the Bears offense over recent years and even the defense has taken somewhat of a beating from them over the last two years. However, they've recognized the possibility the Bears could make a quick turnaround defensively from last year's dip to 11th overall by calling Mack the No. 1 edge defender in the league and also listing Hicks among their top 32 interior line defenders.

With two premier defenders like this, much can be possible.

Mack was chosen the No. 1 edge defender despite making 8 1/2 and nine sacks the last two seasons.

In his article, Ben Linsey acknowledges this low sack total. Players like second-ranked T.J. Watt and Joey Bosa have more sacks.

"Mack falls outside the top 10 edge defenders in the NFL in total sacks over the last two seasons, but that is just one number that doesn't reflect how dominant he has been on the field," Linsey said. They called Mack "most valuable edge rusher" based largely on the wins above replacement metric.

Last year Mack's PFF grade was 92.5, matching the highest he's ever attained.

Mack had been rated PFF's second-best edge defender coming into 2020, behind Watt.

Perhaps the Bears should have paid closer attention to the PFF rankings in this regard. They dumped $33 million guaranteed on edge rusher Robert Quinn for the other side of the line and PFF did not have him ranked among their top 25 going into 2020 despite statistics saying he was No. 1 in pass-rush win rate.

They also said he "needs his hand in the ground to be able to explode off the turf and attack a tackle with speed and burst off the line" and with the Bears he wasn't going to have that.

Quinn had two sacks and six quarterback hits last season.

As for Hicks, being ranked 15th overall among interior linemen is a compliment even if he had been eighth going into last year.

Linsey acknowledged age's impact on Hicks, who turns 32 during the 2021 season. However, he called last year one of Hicks' "... most productive years as a pass rusher."

PFF calculates Hicks had a 10.6% pressure rate on QBs last year and had his second-best seasons in terms of PFF pass-rushing grade (74.1) and pass-rush win rate (14.4%).

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