Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen discussed how defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo's fits within the Bears' defense after his first season was cut short because of an Achilles injury.
Ben Johnson clearly stated how his team's pass rush could improve from last season.
The Chicago Bears' head coach looked internally and highlighted that the coaching must be better. It's a topic that Johnson and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen have discussed thoroughly when reviewing how the first year played out.
"We've had all these discussions, and I think when you look at things, the first thing you have to look at is, ‘Okay, what could I have done better?’" Allen said. "And then, ‘What could we as a staff have done better?’ We had a lot of discussions this offseason about a lot of different things. And one of the things that we identified was we focused so much on installing all the scheme last year, because it was brand new. We do have a high volume of things that we carry in the defense, and we focused so much on that, that we lost sight of some of the fundamentals and techniques that it takes to function to do those things.
I don't think we were as fundamentally-sound defensively as we need to be. So how do we have to coach it better? Well, let's minimize how much we're focused on the scheme and let's focus on not what we're going to do, but how we're going to do it. I think that's how we're going to improve."
The Bears finished 25th in total quarterback pressures generated (189) and allowed 6.8 passing yards per pass play (28th) last saeson, according to Next Gen Stats.
Although Allen was disappointed after reviewing all three levels of his defense, he also is encouraged by how much his unit can improve once the fundamentals and techniques reach the standard that is required to run the system.
What should also provide a boost for the defense is regaining defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo, whose season ended in Week 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals after he tore his Achilles.
Prior to his season-ending injury, Odeyingbo registered just 10 quarterback pressures, one sack and 12 total tackles in eight games played, according to Pro Football Focus. In Weeks 6 and 7, the Bears started to shift Odeyingbo inside the B gap (15 of his 21 total defensive snaps that season), and Johnson mentioned the 6-foot-6, 286-pound defensive lineman had value playing in that alignment during his Week 10 press conference.
Despite the lack of production, Allen still sees a clear spot for Odeyingbo and how he can impact his defense.
"He's definitely in the mix at defensive end," Allen said. "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. 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. I think we'll see our pass rush improve in terms of just our guys rushing as one unit. Because it's hard. There were a lot of times where we had a really good rush, but we weren't quite as good over here on this side. It allowed the quarterback to step up into a lane. That's an area that we can improve on and I think our guys, when they did it right, it was pretty impressive.”
With no new additions at edge rusher this offseason, Chicago's pass rush success now relies on the coaches' ability to maximize players like Odeyingbo to elevate the entire unit this upcoming season.