Spotlight is on Bears coach Ben Johnson, but they're putting a lot on DC Dennis Allen, too
The Bears have gone all-in on new coach Ben Johnson and his offensive scheme, using their top three draft picks to give him what he needs, but they’ve got a lot riding on defensive coordinator Dennis Allen as well.
Allen inherited a defense that was mostly intact from last season, when the Bears skidded at the end and finished 13th in points allowed, 27th in yards allowed and were far from fearsome in their pass rushing or run stopping.
The most significant defensive player they added in the draft was Texas A&M lineman Shemar Turner, who began his college career at end before moving to tackle, with a second-round pick at No. 62 overall. As the Bears try to build “waves” of defensive linemen like the reigning champion Eagles have, Allen must mold Turner into a weapon.
“Teaming up with Coach D.A. is going to be great, especially because of what they coach: physicality and playing hard,” Turner said at Halas Hall on Saturday. “It’s going to be good.
“This is violent. We're going to be physical and we're going to dominate guys on the line of scrimmage.”
General manager Ryan Poles has long been looking for players who can generate that type of force, and so far, the only sure thing he has put in place is Pro Bowl defensive end Montez Sweat.
The Bears have the fewest sacks in the NFL during Poles’ tenure, and none of his late-round draft picks or budget-friendly acquisitions in free agency or via trade have materialized into difference makers. He swung harder in free agency this year by signing defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo.
Those two and Sweat will be starters, and Gervon Dexter is the leader to be the other defensive tackle, though veteran Andrew Billings won’t go quietly and teams don’t usually draft second-rounders like Turner to be backups.
Allen has plenty of work to do with that group. Sweat is coming off a season of just 5 1/2 sacks. The Bears signed Odeyingbo for $48 million over three years based on where they think he’s headed rather than what he’s done, which is 16 1/2 career sacks in four seasons. Dexter made progress last season, but there’s much more to go.
In addition to Turner, Poles gave Allen an ultra-fast linebacker in Maryland’s Ruben Hyppolite II (fourth round, No. 132 overall) and a tall cornerback in UTSA’s Zah Frazier (fifth round, No. 169 overall) who fits Allen’s preference for press coverage.
Allen will be running point on developing those late-round picks and some undrafted free agents into quality parts of the depth chart. That was one area in which former coach Matt Eberflus’ staff excelled.
Allen was integral in selecting those players — he assisted the Bears in evaluating offensive prospects like tight end Colston Loveland by offering input on how difficult it would be to defend them — so he should have a vision of how he plans to shape them into ideal pieces for his defense over the next few seasons.
Poles said Saturday that he and Allen have talked repeatedly about getting more speed on defense, as a starting point.
None of the rookies need to be stars right away, even Turner. The Bears have enough depth at defensive tackle with Jarrett, Dexter and Billings to buy him time to adjust, and he could still get 30-40% of the defensive snaps as a backup.
Johnson has never worked with Allen and, in fact, had never even met him before interviewing him to be his defensive coordinator in January, but he’s going to be a big factor in how he does as a first-time head coach.
He’s in charge of getting the defense back on track this season, but also for a major part of ensuring Johnson’s first draft class with Poles is a success. That’s a lot of trust.