Thread: Biggs: Breaking down Bears' linebackers

Biggs: Breaking down Bears' linebackers

February 8, 2010 4:08 PM | 2 Comments

By Brad Biggs

Part 6 of a 12-part series.

The Bears used to lay claim to having one of the best sets of linebackers in the NFL. This past season, the team was hailing the position's depth more than its excellence, and quantity over quality isn't a good thing.

Lance Briggs was named to the Pro Bowl for the fifth consecutive season, although he probably would be quick to tell you it wasn't his best season. Still, for a player to come from a poor team at a position where sack masters dominate the all-star balloting says a lot about the season he had, because he wasn't near the top of the fan voting.

Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher was lost for the season in the first half of the opener at Green Bay. He is expected to be ready to participate when the offseason program begins.

Photo: Brian Urlacher is expected to be ready when offseason programs begin. (AP)

Urlacher's contract will be an issue. His salary-cap number is irrelevant in what everyone believes will be an uncapped year. What is relevant is the actual money he's to be paid this year. Urlacher has a base salary of $6.825 million and when you tack on a $1.3 million roster bonus and a $500,000 workout bonus, all of a sudden he's on the books in 2010 for $8.625 million. It will be interesting to see if the Bears ask for a little of that back, particularly in light of the team's negotiation with him before the 2008 season.

Pisa Tinoisamoa also had his season cut short by a knee injury. It wasn't a setback that the team anticipates will hinder him moving forward, and he is expected to return. That gives the Bears a pretty solid lineup at linebacker again, if all goes well.

There is still plenty to like about this group and it can be a strength of the defense in 2010, but some natural doubt has crept in, given that what was once a young group is no longer so young. The Bears are going to need Urlacher to return to top form and we examine the linebackers today in the sixth of a 12-part roster analysis.

Linebackers

Roll call: Lance Briggs, Hunter Hillenmeyer, Darrell McClover, Nick Roach, Tim Shaw, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Brian Urlacher, Jamar Williams.

2009 overview: After four-and-a-half seasons as the starter, primarily on the strong side, Hillenmeyer was forced into the background following the arrival of Tinoisamoa. But when injuries struck he quickly found a home in the middle and enjoyed what statistically was one of his better seasons. Hillenmeyer had a career-high 17 tackles in the second meeting with Minnesota, an overtime win, and made 10 tackles to go with three pass breakups and two forced fumbles in the first meeting with the Vikings. In all, he stripped Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson three times. Hillenmeyer remains versatile enough to play in the middle, his natural position, and at strong side and he's productive. An issue with him being a reserve, though, is that he's not an accomplished special-teams player. Still, he made plays on defense when called upon.

Hillenmeyer wasn't the only player to turn in big performances. Sure, the Bears were playing St. Louis, and the Rams' terrible passing game and Steven Jackson played into it, but Jamar Williams made 19 tackles filling in for Briggs. Williams will be a restricted free agent if there is no extension of the CBA, and the Bears may let him move on. Nick Roach was steady for the majority of the season, but not flashy. He made 10 tackles for loss.

Briggs piled up tackles, as usual, to lead the team. He had a six-game stretch during the middle of the season in which he reached double-digits, including a season-best 17 at San Francisco. He had a career-high 2.5 sacks and his lateral quickness continues to make him one of the best weak-side linebackers in the game.

McClover was brought back to be a backbone on special teams and he was fine, but Shaw developed into a potential gem, setting a franchise record with 30 tackles, eight of them in a blockbuster performance in the season finale at Detroit.

In the big picture, the Bears didn't get the kind of game-changing plays they need from the unit on a routine basis. The linebackers didn't dominate games. Piling up tackle statistics downfield make for empty numbers in the big picture. When the linebackers don't dominate and the line is subpar, you get the kind of lopsided losses the Bears suffered last season.

By the numbers: Six. That is the number of different starting combinations the Bears wound up using at linebacker. That included five different combinations in the first six games as linebackers coach Bob Babich was forced to juggle.

Free agency/draft priority: Low. After the Bears bring Tinoisamoa back, they will have five experienced starters in place, including Hillenmeyer and Roach. Shaw would like to work his way into the mix, but that could take time. There has been talk of the Bears needing to find a young player to take over for Urlacher one day, but there are more pressing needs and their youth efforts to replace Briggs (who they thought would depart) have never worked out. Remember, this is the team that spent a fifth-round draft pick on Marcus Freeman last April.

Player to watch: Urlacher. He's still the face of the organization because he has led the Bears to division titles, something Jay Cutler has not accomplished. All eyes will be on No. 54 when he returns, and it will come as no surprise when he shows up in top condition. That's just the kind of athlete and person he is. But how will it translate on the field and in a scheme that isn't suited to his best strengths?

Looking ahead: It will be interesting to see if new defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli has some twists when it comes to Urlacher and Briggs. The Bears have to find a way to rush the passer more effectively and more consistently. Briggs has never been a guy to produce big sack totals and Urlacher hasn't in some time. Could Marinelli have a tweak to the scheme? The Bears better hope so.

Bottom line: It still sets up as the strongest position group on the roster for the Bears. Whether it's good enough to help the defense dominate again, well, some would say those days have passed. A challenge lies ahead.

Next: Tight ends.