Montez Sweat’s presence looms large as the Bears defensive line heads into mandatory minicamp with questions to answer
The Chicago Bears head into mandatory minicamp with lingering questions about the defensive line and the only player that can ease some of those concerns is the one hiding from the spotlight so far this offseason.
The Chicago Bears kick off the first of three days of mandatory minicamp on Tuesday and the top name to watch will be defensive end Montez Sweat.
During the two days of open media access at OTAs, the team’s highest-paid player was not seen on the field with the rest of his teammates working with the coaching staff. Sweat was in the building, however, after being featured on the team’s OTA photo gallery.
OTAs were purely voluntary and Sweat had every right to skip practice if he wanted. This week will be mandatory and Sweat’s presence and impact will be something to watch as the team looks to improve a disappointing pass rush through coaching this offseason.
After hearing from head coach Ben Johnson and defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett the last few weeks, everyone seems to come back to one concerning stat with the defensive front: get off. And the team’s top pass rusher isn’t excluded from those conversations.
Montez Sweat will be an important player to watch out for during Chicago Bears mandatory minicamp
“He’s mixed in with the rest of those guys, just in terms of as a whole,” Johnson said of Sweat. “We didn’t feel like our get off was very good, so we’re looking to improve that across the board, we feel like if we can, we can improve our get off up front, that that’s going to help apply more pressure to the quarterback. So he’s part of that equation as well.”
The numbers back that up. Chicago ranked dead last in get off last season with an average of .93 seconds, via Next Gen Stats. Sweat posted a .98 get off average after having a .88 average the season prior while Dayo Odeyingbo had a .97 and Austin Booker had a 1.01 average. The unit had flashes, but the consistency was far from ideal.
For context, Myles Garrett’s average get-off of 0.7 seconds last season was the fastest by any player with 200+ pass rushes and it’s a big reason why the Rams went out to trade for him after having the second-lowest average get off time.
The Bears’ plan isn’t to add a Garrett-like player, right now. It’s to get the most out of the players they do have via coaching and it helps having Sweat out there with the coaches.
“Year two of this defense, I think things will slow down for our guys from a thinking aspect, and so we’ll be able to play faster,” Johnson added. “That’s what I’m hopeful for him [Montez Sweat], along with the rest of those guys up front.”
If it doesn’t, the Bears will have bigger issues to worry about and limited options to consider. The one possible name that still lingers: Maxx Crosby, who’s .78 get off average in 2025 ranked fourth among qualified pass rushers.