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Bears GM Ryan Poles Just Did What He Usually Does at Edge Rusher Spot

The signing of often-injured Marcus Davenport should give the Bears exactly what their GM usually produces when seeking an edge rusher, and that's not much.
Gene Chamberlain|
In his early years, Marcus Davenport was a force as a run stopper and pass rusher in Dennis Allen's system with the Saints.
In his early years, Marcus Davenport was a force as a run stopper and pass rusher in Dennis Allen's system with the Saints. | USA TODAY Sports

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Chicago Bears

GM Ryan Poles and the Bears made the commitment everyone had been waiting for at edge rusher at last, and the end result is they could have just kept everyone waiting a little longer because of who they signed.

The Bears' reported signing of Marcus Davenport gives them a player with experience in Dennis Allen's system, someone who played on a team that Ben Johnson was coaching for, and it very likely means they'll be back out looking at the waiver wire again because Davenport won't be healthy enough to play.

The Bears have had far too many injuries in this training camp to be signing players with long histories of being injured. Apparently the Kyler Gordon situation or the Coby Bryant injury are not enough. The comeback of Dayo Odeyingbo isn't fully concluded until he can step on a field in live regular-season playing conditions and be as fast as before he had an Achilles tendon injury.

Yet, now they have Davenport to worry about.

A GM can't operate a team on the advice of Draftsharks.com, but this doesn't mean the website has nothing to offer the general public and the word from the fantasy/gambling people is an 82% chance exists Davenport will be injured. They calculate he has the likelihood of missing 3.1 games in 2026.

This is all based on the injury history of said defender.

Marcus Davenport's injury past

2018

Thumb fracture in OTAs, toe sprain late October, 3 games missed

2019

Lisfranc fracture, December, 4 games missed

2020

Elbow/arm bruise, September, 4 games missed
Toe sprain, September, 1 game missed
Concussion, December, 1 game missed

2021

Pectoral strain, September
Shoulder, September, 4 games missed
Shoulder, November, 2 games missed
Ankle sprain, January

2024

Groin muscle, September, 1 game missed
Tricep tear, September, 15 games missed

2025

Shoulder, September, 8 games missed

Maybe they'll get lucky.

To be sure, Davenport does fit the Bears' scheme at 285 pounds. This is ideal defensive end size for Allen's scheme.

Of course he should fit it because he played in it and had his most productive years in it with 21 1/2 sacks and 25 tackles for loss in his first five years. Then he hit free agency and as injuries stacked up his productivity collapsed with 3 1/2 sacks and three TFLs the last three seasons for Minnesota and Detroit.

The Bears will be looking for the earlier version of Davenport and no doubt will be happy with someone in between that and the more recent unproductive player. Davenport was eighth against the run among edges in the league for his second season, according to Pro Football Focus. He was 13th in his fourth season and never worse than 35th against the run in the time he played for Allen.

However, he was an outstanding pass rusher only once year and it's there where the Bears really could use the help.

They're attaching too much to familiarity and not enough to talent. They missed a chance for a veteran pass rush presence when Von Miller signed with Dallas. Derek Barnett, the Texans and former Eagles edge, still remains unsigned and has always been above average in all facets of the game.

This move has all the looks of the other free agent rusher additions Poles has made, like:

  • Yannick Ngakoue
  • Tanoh Kpassagnon
  • DeMarcus Walker
  • Jake Martin
  • Rasheem Green
  • Khalid Kareem
  • Darrell Taylor
  • Al-Quadin Muhammad
  • Taco Charlton
  • Kingsley Jonathan
  • Jalyn Holmes.

At least Poles didn't waste another draft pick on a defensive end who had been a wide receiver, like with Dominque Robinson. It's not a lot for Bears fans to be glad about.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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