Trevis Gipson Sees It from the Other Side
The Bears defensive line very much remains a work in progress.
Adding someone to help with the edge rush remains a possibility, as coach Matt Eberflus suggested this week.
In the meantime, they're looking closely at what they have up front and it includes moving one player around.
At OTAs, they have been using defensive end Trevis Gipson in a different way. They are lining Gipson up at right defensive end.
"The last two years you saw him more as the left end," Bears defensive line coach Travis Smith said. "It's a phenomenal opporutnity. And the best thing is I haven't seen him hesitate at all. He's been through multiple systems here, playing outside backer/D-end role. He's played just the left end now he's playing both.
"You'll see we brought in some outside guys, too, in free agency. Has he changed his demeanor at all? No. Is he competing every day? Absolutely."
Gipson now has to battle for playing time with DeMarcus Walker and Rasheem Green. They still have Dominique Robinson, as well. Gipson did not have the terrible year some have suggested, namely Pro Football Focus.
They had him graded behind Al-Quadin Muhammad, who has since been released. They had Gipson graded as the 11th of 119 edge players in the league based on poor run defense. However, ESPN's run defense win assessment had Gipson actually sixth best in the league at defeating the run among ends.
As a pass rusher, Gipson had career highs of seven quarterback knockdowns, eight hurries and 18 pressures. He just didn't have the finishing touch as he tried to learn the new scheme and a totally new way of playing. He still had more sacks than any edge rusher the Bears had with three, as many as any Bears defensive lineman.
"It doesn't matter what has been thrown at Trevis, what adversity he has faced, every day he's out here trying to get better," Smith said.
The single-gap approach the Bears front four uses emphasizes playing as a unit to not only pressure QBs but keep them contained.
"So it's about being able to affect the quarterback but with discipline," Smith said.
And last year the Bears had Gipson learning this, Robinson learning things about football he never could have known at Bowling Green while he was first a quarterback then receiver then defensive end. The other two edges from last year are gone—Muhammad and Robert Quinn.
"So it's about four men on the same page actually reacting and figuring out how to get in there based on what we're seeing with how they protect," Smith said "So you get a lot of young rushers who are thinking all over the place like 'What kind of new move can I get?' or 'What kind of game can I?'
"It's not about that. It's about a signature move and a counter off that. It's about working together as a defensive front."
Great speculation exists thatthey'll sign one of the free agent edge players available as a one-year stop-gap like Justin Houston, Jadeveon Clowney, Frank Clark or Yanick Ngakoue.
There are potential trades still out there, as well. Chase Young and Chandler Jones are names that come up, but trading for a 34-year-old like Jones makes little sense when they could just as easily sign one who has been a more consistent pass rusher lately—namely Houston. And Young not only must prove he's past his injury issues but Washington has no real incentive to deal him until the November trading deadline. In other words, at this point it will take far too much to pry Young away from the Commanders.
In the meantime, even on a different side of the line of scrimmage Gipson looks like one of the few dependable options they have. He's also in a contract year, which can't be a bad thing.
"He has been in the system now, it's his second year so he's hearing everything a second time, so it's about doing the simple things better," Smith said. "He learned the system last year. He had a good understanding of it."
He'salso playing on both sides of the line, which can only keep him from losing too many reps.
"So it gives him another opportunity to rush versus different tackles and play both different sides and use his left hand, left foot as opposed to his right hand, right foot," Smith said. "So there are some differences that go into that rather than just being only at left end."
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
