Brad Biggs on why the Bears will pick up Leonard Floyd’s option,
2016 1st-round pick making sure Bears bring him back in ’20
Coach Matt Nagy likes to erase ambiguity within what he asks of his players, keeping things black and white and eliminating the gray.
The same concept applies to roster decisions, and what looked fuzzy through half of this season is now quite clear regarding the Bears’ fifth-year option on outside linebacker Leonard Floyd. While the 2016 first-round pick (ninth overall) has only four sacks — all since Week 10 — he is playing the most consistent football of his career, and the Bears can make a decision on his 2020 option with confidence.
They couldn’t have done so two months ago on the option likely to cost a little more than $13 million. After the right knee injury Floyd suffered in Week 11 of 2017 kept him sidelined for much of the offseason, he broke his right hand during the third week of the preseason, stunting his development.
But Sunday’s game against the Vikings in Minneapolis will be the 16th consecutive start for Floyd, who has been on the practice field consistently this season as well. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said in mid-October that he wasn’t concerned about Floyd’s performance — the highlight of which to that point was probably an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty in Week 6 for body slamming Dolphins wide receiver Danny Amendola.
Fangio admitted that the Bears probably had erred by playing Floyd too much early in the season with a club protecting his surgically repaired hand. Fangio said Floyd probably was thinking too much about counter moves when rushing the quarterback instead of relying on his best athletic trait — his speed.
Even with Floyd producing more — and two sacks in the Dec. 16 victory against the Packers stand out — he remains a weekly topic for reporters.
“You guys ask me about him every week,” Fangio said Thursday. “Right? Have I not been asked about Leonard every week in here?
“The numbers, I guess what you’re alluding to is sack numbers, he’d like to have more. They all would. We’d like him to have more. But I think he’s played good. Ever since he’s gotten full use of his hand and gotten back into the swing of things, he’s been a really good player.”
Staying on the field for games and practices has been key. Floyd totaled 1,118 snaps through two seasons and has 753 through 15 games this year. The missed time stunted his development, although he has shown flashes dating to his rookie season. And those highlight-reel moments illustrate his top-10 traits because that’s what he is — a high-level athlete. Now, he’s playing faster more consistently, which allows Fangio to do different things with him.
“I just feel like I’ve got my whole arsenal,” Floyd said. “The games (early in the season), I really didn’t have my whole arsenal. I just feel like I can do any move I want to.”
In the Rams game in Week 14, Fangio used Floyd to match running back Todd Gurley in the flat with great success, giving recent Rams opponents a blueprint to defend against play-action routes that had been very successful for Jared Goff. The Bears figured the 6-foot-4, 251-pound Floyd was athletic enough to cover Gurley, one of the league’s better receivers out of the backfield, and while Goff targeted Gurley seven times, the running back caught only three passes for 30 yards.
When the Rams run play action, Gurley releases to the flat. Floyd’s ability to cover him allowed inside linebackers Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith to remain in the box, match seam routes underneath and get depth as zone defenders to help the safeties. The problem the Rams created for opponents earlier in the season was that the play action would create a huge window at the second level and put the curl defender in a conflict — take away the crosser or jump to Gurley? If the curl defender sank, Gurley had ample room — maybe 15 yards — to run after the catch.
Teams have followed the Bears’ lead and are taking away Gurley in the flat, meaning Goff can’t get to the top of his drop and just sling the ball because the opening isn’t there. That’s forcing Goff to go to the back side for his reads, and as a young quarterback he’s not entirely comfortable doing so.
Floyd still flashes as a pass rusher. He has been impressive coming off twists and stunts, closing with great speed on the quarterback. Counter moves remain an issue, and playing opposite Khalil Mack, Floyd doesn’t face nearly the number of double teams and chips he would see otherwise.
Floyd also has improved against the run, and the Bears have taken notice. He’s stronger at the point of attack after getting tossed around a little in his first two seasons. He’s much better because of technique and game reps, learning how to take on blocks and having a feel for when the running back is going to bounce outside. That has helped Floyd become a more complete player.
He probably could add some bulk this offseason, but looking ahead to 2019, a healthy Floyd has a chance to develop into more of a game changer. He’s never going to be able to bully offensive linemen on the edge like Mack does, but Floyd has settled into a role that makes it clear: He’s part of the Bears’ future.