After a torn Achilles ended Dayo Odeyingbo's first season with the Bears, is Chicago's defensive end in store for a bounce-back season?
The Chicago Bears have plenty of players who will have plenty to prove this upcoming season, and Dayo Odeyingbo is high up the list.
In his first year with the Bears last season, the Bears' defensive end played in just nine games because of a torn Achilles injury he sustained in Chicago's win over the Bengals.
Odeyingbo finished the year with 10 total quarterback pressures, one sack and 12 solo tackles. General manager Ryan Poles signed Odeyingbo to a three-year, $48 million contract with $32 million fully guaranteed last offseason.
The 26-year-old will have plenty to prove going into his second season with the Bears.
He's also the subject for today's mailbag question.
Is Dayo Ready to have a double digit sack season? -- @DobzMiles
If I had to put my money on this happening, I wouldn't have much confidence in this outcome.
This is the second time in Odeyingbo's career that he has torn his Achilles. The first time occurred when he was training for the NFL Draft, and then in Week 10 against the Bengals.
After his rookie season, Odeyingbo did play in all 17 games for three straight seasons while he was with the Indianapolis Colts, but how does his body respond to another Achilles injury?
The 6-foot-5, 282-pound defensive end was spotted at practice on June 3, which is an encouraging sign.
But to expect Odeyingbo to reach double-digit sacks in his sixth NFL season after he has never reached that mark, is a reach. He had his most sacks in his career in 2023 with eight, and the following season, he ended with a career-high 42 total quarterback pressures.
Those numbers could have been reasons why the Bears signed him to his lucrative deal and his frame fits what defensive coordinator Dennis Allen likes in his pass rushers.
Allen still feels strongly in what Odeyingbo can do for his defense this upcoming season.
"If you go back and you watch the tape, and you watch his improvement from Week 1 until the time that he got hurt in the Cincinnati game, you saw a lot of improvement," Allen said in early May. "That's one of the things when we talk about the pass rush. One of the things that we've talked about, it goes back to the fundamentals and how we teach those things. We lost some of that because we were so focused on the scheme and that totally falls on me. I think if we do a better job of the fundamentals and the techniques of doing those things that we're going to ask them to do that we'll get better at that."
Odeyingbo's health, comfortability in the scheme and individual improvement in his technique will all determine if he can bounce back from 2025. I'm not confident he will reach double-digit sacks, but he should have a better year than he did last season.
That's not saying a lot, but the Bears will take any and all improvements on their defensive line this year.
