Ideal Landing Spot or Misfit for Chicago?
Just before last season, the Bears brought in former Vikings defensive tackle Armon Watts off waivers.
He hit a high point a few weeks after taking over as starter when he had six tackles against Washington, but really seemed to fade in the second half with just two quarterback hits, four tackles for loss and one sack for 12 starts and a full 17 games.
Now, at least one analyst thinks they need to bring in another Vikings defensive lineman.
In an article for Pro Football Focus pointing out the ideal landing spot for the website's top 10 defensive free agents, the Bears were described by writer/analyst Jonathon Macrias as the best fit for Vikings free agent defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson.
Taking a "key piece" from an NFC North team was one reason cited for such a move, while the Bears' poor run defense and pass rush last year were also brought up.
Tomlinson hardly seems an ideal fit for this Bears scheme as a one-technique and definitely isn't a three-technique at 325 pounds.
What he's best at is playing the nose in a 3-4 like he did in New York for defensive coordinators James Bettcher and Patrick Graham from 2018-20. He produced 20 tackles for loss then but had only five total for the last two seasons in Minnesota.
He's not a nose for the 4-3 Tampa-2 style defense the Bears run, which relies on defenders getting into the gap and upfield, although the one-technique frequently has the responsibility often of taking away the double-team blocks from the three-technique.
Tomlinson played in a 4-3 as a rookie without great success and again in 2021 for the Vikings when he was a little better at it. Tomlinson had a better year last year in the 3-4 again after Minnesota made the switch to a Vic Fangio style of 3-4 defense. His tackles, QB hits and tackles for loss all went up last year despite playing only 13 games compared to 16 the previous year.
The PFF article says Tomlinson's "...36 tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage against the run, which is the sixth most at his position over the past four seasons."
No one could dispute Tomlinson's effectiveness as a player and if it was 2021 and Matt Nagy still coached the Bears, he would be an ideal fit even as a 29-year-old free agent with a team full of early 20-somethings.
However, there are other defensive linemen in free agency better suited to what the Bears do. Both Washington's Daron Payne and Philadelphia's Javon Hargrave would both be better choices playing on the line as a one-technique in the 4-3 alongside defensive tackle draft pick Jalen Carter than Tomlinson.
Payne has been much more active as an attacker with 125 tackles, 16 sacks, 35 QB hits and 52 pressures the last two years than Tomlinson. Hargrave has been better or close to those numbers with 18 1/2 sacks, 19 tackles for loss, 34 QB hits and 42 pressures the last two seasons.
The Bears are more capable of paying either one of those two than the teams the PFF article has signing them, Hargrave with the Browns as an "ideal" fit and Payne with Dallas.
In the end, free agency fit will be ruled by the open marketplace and cash is king there.
In this year's open market, the Bears are the kings of cash.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
