The Chicago Bears’ defense hasn’t been perfect this year, but they’ve held up their end of the bargain for most of the past three weeks. They held San Francisco to 10 points and then grabbed some key turnovers to help knock off Houston. Roquan Smith and Eddie Jackson have led the way, looking like the All-Pro players they’ve been in the past. Nicholas Morrow has also been surprisingly reliable as a middle linebacker. Robert Quinn remains a force at defensive end. However, people aren’t giving enough respect to Trevis Gipson.
Nobody would guess he leads the team with ten quarterback pressures, including two sacks. He is tied for ninth among all edge rushers in that category. What makes it even more impressive is that he’s done it on a limited snap count. Gipson has rushed the quarterback only 43 times this season. Chiefs 1st round pick George Karlaftis has ten pressures but needed 105 snaps to get there. Aidan Hutchinson, the #2 overall pick in Detroit, has 11 pressures on 122 snaps.
That should help illustrate how efficient Gipson has been.
Trevis Gipson (@trevisgipson) with the ghost/rip sack. Robert Quinn must’ve shared his notes with Gipson after he got a sack with the same move earlier in the game! #passrush #dabears pic.twitter.com/70UvfH3TJ4
— DLineVids (@dlinevids1) September 19, 2022
It is difficult to understand why Matt Eberflus and Alan Williams won’t provide them. Al-Quadin Muhammad has gotten more action as a starter thus far. The likely reasoning is that they trust Muhammad more as a run defender. Not hard to understand, considering how porous their run defense has been to start the season. Still, Gipson has more stops (tackles for no gain or a loss) than Muhammad, and he is clearly the superior pass rusher.
The Bears will start facing some tough quarterbacks in the coming weeks. They need their pass rush to be in top form. That involves getting their best four on the field in those situations. Trevis Gipson continues to prove he belongs on that field. It is great to see his development continue after arriving as an unheralded 5th round pick two years ago. With his current trajectory, he might be able to crack 10+ sacks in the near future.
