There’s no doubt that Bears outside linebacker Khalil Mack remains one of the NFL’s best pass rushers, even though he hasn’t been able to match his dominant production from his Chicago debut in 2018.
ESPN unveiled its edge rusher rankings, which are voted upon by NFL execs, coaches and players. While it wasn’t a surprise to find Mack among the top five on the list at No. 4 — behind the likes of Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt and Joey Bosa — it was a surprise to hear one coordinator’s evaluation of Mack’s play last season.
Mack’s contributions have always been more than the box score indicates, but that wasn’t enough to convince some that Mack was among the best edge rushers last season. According to one coordinator, he didn’t believe Mack was great last season, which is a surprise given Mack was Pro Football Focus’ top-graded edge rusher in 2020.
“I didn’t think he was last year,” an NFL coordinator told ESPN. “Robert Quinn[on the other side] didn’t do him any favors. But [Mack] simply didn’t win enough for a player of his caliber.”
As Bears fans are aware, Mack appeared on the injury report on an almost weekly basis, where he dealt with knee, back, ankle and shoulder injuries. And he still managed to be one of the league’s top edge rushers.
According to ESPN, while Mack’s double-team rate declined in each of the last three seasons, his win rate declined three percent in 2020. Mack won 9.7% of his double teams.
“His ‘wow’ plays are unbelievable,” the coordinator said. “There just weren’t enough of them.”
To be fair, according to Butkus Stats and Analytics, Mack had five impact plays negated by penalty, including three sacks, one forced fumble, one run stop and one pass stop.
Those “wow” plays were a big part of the Bears’ defensive dominance in 2018, something they’re looking to get back to in 2021. Assuming Mack can stay off the injury report, the hope is that Chicago’s defense can get back to that dominance under new defensive coordinator Sean Desai.
