Bears sign DE Yannick Ngakoue.

Guys, YN is gonna be a pass rush specialist only.  Not a 3-down DE.  That's why he's a 10 sack guy whos still on the market in August.

He is gonna be on the field 2nd/3rd & long mostly.

Here is his RAS score (link).  At 6'2" and 245 (numbers from his Bears player profile), he just doesn't have the body mass to play a slugfest on the DL to stop the run.  He can be effective against the run, but his game is speed, upper body strength and flexibility.

Here is an analysis of his pass rushing and limitations when playing the run.

One of my go to guys on YT posted a nearly 40-minute video yesterday about Ngakoue. Somewhere between 30 and 35 minutes of it are film study.  He goes to great length to point out that Ngakoue is actually very capable in defending the run, as long as he is able to use his quickness and fluidity.  There is no way that a 6'2" and 245 lb DE can take on a 6'4" and 330 lb OT straight up in a contest of raw strength.

So, I'm changing my tune in being concerned about him in the run game.  I now feel like he simply needs to be in the right system.  If he is, he has the potential to be a devasting and disruptive 4-3 DE.  He plays with one speed, all out. I am hoping that Eberflus' platooning style allows him to pay this way for complete games, game after game.  If you watch the entire video (I know it's long) you'll see he has perfected the DE version of the Peanut Punch.  I can see that, if he gets enough time to recharge during the game, he could have over 10 sacks and possibly more forced fumbles than sacks.  IMO a FF is way better than a sack as it is likely a turnover for the defense.




The video makes reference to an online article on Ngakoue.  Here is the link to the article.  I really hope he works out for us and finds a home here.  He is a very high character guy who will be a great mentor for all the yound DL guys here now and who will come in over the next couple of years.

www.golongtd.com/p/you-dont-know-yannick-ngakoue

From what I've seen over the last 2 or 3 days of research, he will likely become our best DE in all phases of the defense. 

For sure, I expect to see him on 100% or the pure passing downs.  But I also expect we will start seeing him on the lineup for other critical downs as well.