Windy City Gridiron
The Bears didn’t have a player crack 6 sacks in 2024. Will someone top that this season?
The 2024 Chicago Bears were bad. We all know this. We have all come to accept this. Perhaps an underpublicized stat is that the Bears’ leader in sacks last season was Montez Sweat with an underwhelming 5.5 sacks. This resulted in them being 17th in the league with 40 total sacks.
In 2023, the Bears weren’t much better as Montez Sweat led the team with 6 sacks in 9 games. That year, the Bears were 2nd to last in total sacks with 30.
In 2022, it was even more paltry as Jaquan Brisker led the team with 4 sacks, as the Bears accumulated an embarrassing 20 total sacks that season.
Ryan Poles recognized that the Bears lacked a major league pass rush and added Grady Jarrett, Shermar Turner, and Dayo Odeyingbo to the DL rotation of Montez Sweat, Gervon Dexter, Andrew Billings, Austin Booker, and Chris Williams.
While these are improvements over the likes of Darrell Taylor, Byron Cowart, and Jacob Martin - nobody has arrived as a proven commodity, in their prime, clearly capable of racking up double-digit sacks.
In fact, it hasn’t been since Robert Quinn’s franchise record 18.5 sacks in 2021 that the Bears have had a player hit the 10 sack mark. The Bears have obviously had some incredible DL over the last 20 years spanning from Tommie Harris to Julius Peppers, to Akiem Hicks, Khalil Mack, and beyond. However, this team doesn’t have a player in the same ilk capable of competing as a league leader in sacks.
Which got me thinking - Who will lead the Bears in sacks in 2025?
My answer? Dayo Odeyingbo.
While Dayo’s sack total went down from 8.0 in 2023 to 3.0 in 2024, I think he made some strides that didn’t show up on the stat sheet.
He has increased his pass-rush win rate every single season, including a jump from 12.6% in 2023 to 13.9% in 2024. He also improved his QB Knockdowns from 7 to 13 last season, showing evidence that his sack total was close to being much higher.
As a 25-year-old with loads of upside, I see no reason why Dayo can’t match or exceed his 8 sacks recorded in 2023. With Dennis Allen as his new DC, TE/RB chips focused on Montez Sweat, and a focused starting role - I see Dayo Odeyingbo leading the Bears with 9+ sacks in 2025.
Now it’s your turn! Who will lead the Bears in sacks in 2025? Sound off in the comments!
