Pressure points
Bears believe Robert Quinn’s finishing touch can elevate defense
Take a spin through the reel of Robert Quinn’s 2019 sacks and it becomes apparent why the Bears front office and coaching staff identified him as a potential catalyst to their defense. Run through those plays — a dozen in all with Quinn recording 11½ sacks for the Cowboys — and it’s easy to envision the fist pumps defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano is likely doing in his home office these days.
Many moons ago, Pagano helped recruit Quinn to the University of North Carolina. So he’s familiar with Quinn’s athleticism, speed off the ball and natural pass-rush instincts. But in the 2019 film, Pagano also can zero in on a veteran pass rusher still capable of taking advantage of his opportunities. Consistently.
Need a glimpse of Quinn’s explosion and ability to turn the corner? Try Week 3 against the Dolphins as he whizzed around left tackle Michael Deiter and buried Josh Rosen for a 7-yard loss on third down. Or Week 10 in Minnesota when Riley Reiff looked to be in quicksand as Quinn accelerated, bent past and mauled Kirk Cousins.
Want an example of Quinn’s motor? Cue up Week 4 against the Saints when Quinn was held from behind by Larry Warford yet kept hustling to reverse course and drop Teddy Bridgewater.
Looking for an indication that Quinn, like new teammate Khalil Mack, can get the ball as well as the quarterback? Then peek at his strip-sacks of Tom Brady and Carson Wentz and his near miss
on a takedown of Lions quarterback Jeff Driskel.
Dive a bit deeper still and you’ll notice Quinn consistently drawing one-on-one matchups that showcase his strengths.
On six of his sacks last season, the opposing offense dedicated extra protection for Cowboys star DeMarcus Lawrence. Quinn capitalized.
In Week 7, for example, Quinn used a vicious bull rush to drive Eagles left tackle Andre Dillard deep into the pocket, then quickly shed Dillard and smothered Wentz for a loss of 8.
That’s the kind of play the Bears would love to celebrate more often, with another defensive playmaker who can alter a series and change a game while opponents are spending energy corralling Mack and/ or Akiem Hicks.
“Hopefully,” Quinn said last week, “that frees me up a little bit and I get to take advantage.”
That was a defining characteristic of Quinn’s one season with the Cowboys, his first year with at least 10 sacks since 2014. He was able to take advantage. When left single-blocked, he won his individual battles at an impressive rate.
NextGen Stats credited Quinn with creating pressure on 14% of his pass rushes last season, the second-highest percentage in the league behind the Packers’ Za’Darius Smith at 14.6%. Quinn had 49 pressures on the season.
Quinn rarely needed stunts or twists to get himself free. The Cowboys didn’t often need to send extra pressure to help him get home. And when Quinn turns the corner, his ability to bend to the quarterback is both impressive and invaluable, a finishing touch Leonard Floyd never quite mastered.
Quinn’s 11½ sacks last season matched Floyd’s total for his final 42 games as a Bear and made a change up front easy for general manager Ryan Pace.
The Bears see an opening to utilize Quinn, an instinctive veteran with 80½ career sacks and two Pro Bowl invitations, as a complementary piece in a pass rush that already gets significant juice from Mack and Hicks.
“He has excellent edge speed,” Pace said last week. “He has outstanding ability to bend the corner. I think we can take a position of strength on our defense and make it even stronger and more dangerous.”
Establishing comfort, of course, will be important for unlocking Quinn’s full potential.
The pass rusher who turns 30 next month has made it clear he prefers working exclusively from the right side. He also has enjoyed the majority of his success in 4-3 systems.
With nine seasons and 125 career games played, Quinn’s odometer also is getting up there. And as he joins his fourth organization in as many seasons — from the Rams to the Dolphins to the Cowboys to the Bears — finding a way to quickly assimilate will be a must, a heightened challenge given the unique dynamic of this interrupted offseason.
Still, Quinn sees opportunity with the Bears.
His free-agent decision, he revealed late last week, proved difficult, a toss-up in his mind between the Bears and Falcons. He was having trouble reaching a conclusion. Thus, Quinn said, he resorted to a coin flip.
“My agent was just relaying some messages,” he explained, “and I really couldn’t make up my mind. So I had to do it the honest way. … You’ve just got to figure out the pros and cons, talk to your agent and flip a coin. Hopefully the powers above lead you in the right direction.”
Quinn was asked directly whether he really went to his change jar to finalize the move.
“That’s how it came down to the final decision,” he replied. “It was still pretty tough. I mean basically that’s what it boiled down to is a coin flip. The Bears were on the right side of it. I don’t regret it. … The powers above always do things in a funny way. I’m going to Chicago for a reason.”
Quinn will have as many coins as he could ever need going forward. The fiveyear deal the Bears gave him last month includes $30 million guaranteed and could be worth up to $70 million by the end of 2024.
For the Bears, it’s a calculated investment and a belief that Quinn’s productivity last season will carry forward into 2020 and beyond.
Quinn said he is more than eager to join an already established defense and began rattling off the list of new teammates he can’t wait to play with. Mack, Hicks, Kyle Fuller, Eddie Goldman, Danny Trevathan.
That group, he said, should help him chase a standard personal goal of recording a double-digit sack total for the fifth time in his career.
“The dogs that you get to play beside,” Quinn said, “should definitely make it fun. Or hopefully make it a little easier to accomplish those (goals).
“Again, we play on Sundays. That’s when we establish ourselves. … I can talk. And we all have expectations of ourselves. But we wait until the season to see what we’re really about.”