How Bears Will Lean on Yannick Ngakoue

Spending $10.5 million dollars for a defensive end means he's playing most downs, even if he has trouble stopping the run.

Yannnick Nagakoue will be a starting end for the Bears and play in the rotation like other defensive ends despite his reputation for being all pass rush and no run defense. The signing became official Friday and the Bears released defensive end Jalyn Holmes to make room on the roster.

"We see him as a first- and second-down, we see him as an every down end," coach Matt Eberflus said Friday after the signing of Ngakoue, making the Bears his sixth team. "So he's gonna have to play in those situations. And he's done it.

"He's been good at it and we've got to make sure that he sharpens that part of it as well. And he will do that. And we're excited where he is in terms of being an every down defensive end for us."

This would likely mean Ngakoue and DeMarcus Walker as starting defensive ends with Rasheem Green and either Trevis Gipson or Dominique Robinson rotating into the lineup.

The fact Ngakoue played with the Raiders under Rod Marinelli and current Bears defensive line coach Travis Smith meant the world for the Bears in terms of the signing.

Marinelli was in Dallas when Eberflus coached there and the Bears coach's philosophy on the pass rush comes from the Tampa-2 influence, the same that the Bears had under Lovie Smith—another friend of Marinelli's who was a former Bears defensive assistant.

"Yeah. I think he fits really well," Eberflus said. "He was with Marinelli in Vegas, which was cool, and Travis. So he was in that same type of scheme there. He was with Gus (Bradley) last year—same type of scheme, four down (linemen) in front. Getting vertical on the edges.

"So it's really the same type. It's not gonna be a stretch for him. He fits really well, so we're excited about that. And we had some intel on him. Obviously, what kind of teammate he is. What kind of person he is. What kind of worker he is. And he checked all the boxes there for us. He's gonna be a good addition."

Ngakoue has 65 career sacks and 9 1/2 last year for the Colts. Even though the Bears like stout ends against the run, Ngakoue's style will apparently be a welcome addition.

"Yeah, just the rush stands out first of all," Eberflus said. "To be able to capture the edge with his speed, but to also have the strength and that length to be able to level back. A lot of guys have that speed rush, but you've got to be able to still be able to bore at the top to be able to finish the rush. And that's an important piece and he has that."

Eberflus also sees a benefit for his tackles being able to work in practice against a high-quality pass rusher, one who has never had less than eight sacks in a year.

However, it's not going to be a rush for Ngakoue to get into the lineup. He hasn't been in a camp so they need to ramp him up to the level they're at in practice, so to speak.

"Like every other player, he's going to have to have a ramp-up period and we're going to have to work him in there, slowly into individual, working that part, and then working into our team stuff," Eberflus said. "The guy's got a lot of experience and we're going to do that.

"I'll sit down and talk with our performance staff and (trainer), and figure out exactly what that is best for that individual and we'll go from there. But once he gets going, what I want to see is we have standards here of how we operate, how we hustle, how we finish, how we play."

Will Ngakoue fit the demanding HITS principle of Eberflus?

"That's our style, right? And the style's not just for the game, it's for the practice too," Eberflus said. "So we want to see him buy into that and really take that on and have ownership of that."

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