Configuring Bears Linebackers Minus Roquan Smith

The Bears did get a player out of the trade for Roquan Smith and he even plays linebacker.

The bad news for them is he is over 31 years old, hasn't been a starter in three years and really isn't someone who can be the weakside linebacker in a Tampa-2 style. He is a strongside linebacker, and that's a position on the field less than 45% of the time for the Bears.

At this point in his career, A.J. Klein is more of a throw-in for the trade and a possible veteran mentor to very young backup players the Bears now have on the roster.

The Iowa State product from Appleton, Wis. has been in the NFL since he was a 2013 fifth-round draft pick for Carolina and had been with Baltimore only this year. He played in only two games and doesn't seem suited to the Baltimore 3-4 since his entire career was in a 4-3 before going to the Ravens.

At 6-foot-1, 240 pounds, he would fit in more as a strong side linebacker backup and a special teams player.

Klein had his best years as a starter with the New Orleans Saints in a 4-3 as an outside linebacker from 2017-2019 when he started 42 games. He only started 23 of 60 games with Carolina and 15 of 31 in two years with Buffalo.

Klein has always been a better fit in the 4-3 but had signed on with Baltimore this season and got into two games before being part of the trade for Smith.

In terms of analytics, Klein had one very good season with the Panthers in 2015 when he played 15 games with six starts and Pro Football Focus graded him as a 79.8 overall with 75.4 run defense and 73.9 pass coverage.

However, he has been nowhere near those marks throughout the rest of his career. He had a 69.1 grade with the Saints in 2018 but most of his career grades have been 40s and 50s. He played strongside linebacker in Buffalo before coming to the Ravens.

Losing Smith leaves the Bears with several options at weakside linebacker but their best option might be moving Nicholas Morrow to the position.

Morrow had only two starts at middle linebacker before this season, when the Bears put him there. He had largely been a starter on the strong or weak side with the Raiders.

There's more than half a season left for the Bears to finish out so they need to come up with an answer at linebacker without Smith.

Here are the options ahead for the Bears with Smith gone. 

1. Nicholas Morrow MLB and Matthew Adams WLB

They played Adams at weakside linebacker in preseason during Smith's hold-in. The problem with this, of course, is Adams is on injured reserve with a calf injury. The extent or time away isn't known for this but he didn't go on the list until Oct. 11, so it will be at least a few more weeks before they can remove him. This would be their grouping of middle and weakside that makes the defense most viable.

2. Nicholas Morrow WLB and Sterling Weatherford MLB

If they're looking at a possible long-term solution and ignoring the possibility of getting some blown assignments initally, this one makes the most sense. Weatherford is a 6-foot-4 undrafted rookie linebacker who is about 224 pounds and his kick coverage impressed Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower in the past. He hasn't played on defense but being as rangy as he is, he is ideal to move into the middle, especially on passing downs. A description given by Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated in his Monday Morning Quarterback column accurately depicts what Matt Eberflus likes in linebackers: "...particularly since Matt Eberflus' system typically favors bigger, longer linebackers (à la Shaq Leonard)." The ideal Chicago middle linebacker is 6-foot-4, in the Brian Urlacher range, because he has the deeper middle in linebacker coverage and can tip passes in the zone from there easier.

3. Nicholas Morrow WLB and Jack Sanborn MLB

Sanborn is more of a fit speed-wise for strongside linebacker but has middle linebacker experience and wouldn't be as good of a fit for weakside linebacker. Sanborn can be a tackling machine type who would be a fit at weakside from that respect, but the lack of speed wouldn't allow him to be the playmaker

4. Nicholas Morrow MLB and Joe Thomas WLB

They'd be surrendering playmaking by using Thomas on the weakside. He has been largely a special teams and strongside linebacker this year. He has been on the field for 25% of the defensive plays at strongside linebacker. Using him on the weakside at age 31 wouldn't be ideal but he has done it. He played there for Dallas. He might be better suited for the Mike spot than Will if they had to use him as one of their top two linebackers.

5. Nicholas Morrow WLB and Joe Thomas MLB

Thomas has handled the middle in the past but it was long ago in Dallas, just like with Klein. And he also played inside linebacker in a 3-4 with the Packers.

6. Dane Cruikshank MLB and WLB Nicholas Morrow

Cruikshank is a safety, true, but the Bears could easily put him at the middle linebacker spot for passing downs because he had a reputation for shutting down tight ends last year in Tennessee in their dime or sometimes nickel packages. This would allow them to keep Morrow's speed at weakside. Cruikshank is about 210 pounds so he would be undersized but he has been part of their goal-line package at safety.