Staley Da Bear
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- Mar 16, 2019
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Bears star outside linebacker Khalil Mack has been voted as the NFL's top edge rusher in an ESPN survey of 50 league executives, coaches, scouts and players.
The goal of the survey was to rank the top 10 players at different positions to determine the best players for the 2020 season.
"Mack's 8.5 sacks and 19.6 percent pass-rush win rate don't begin to demonstrate his capacity for disruption," ESPN's Jeremy Fowler wrote.
"He can get home in every way -- he can go through you or around you," said one NFL defensive coordinator.
Added a defensive assistant coach: "Your game plan doesn't matter with him."
Acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Raiders in 2018, Mack recorded 12.5 sacks in his first season with the Bears. The 6-3, 269-pounder was voted to his fifth straight Pro Bowl last year, leading the team with 8.5 sacks. In two years in Chicago, Mack has appeared in 30 games with 29 starts and recorded 94 tackles, 21 sacks, one interception, 18 tackles-for-loss, eight pass breakups, 11 forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.
"He doesn't get past the quarterback very often because he bends so well, has speed-to-power and finishes at the level of the quarterback," a veteran defensive coach told Fowler. "And he's relentless."
Other Bears players to be recognized in the survey were Akiem Hicks, who was voted eighth among interior defensive linemen, and Cody Whitehair, who was listed as an honorable mention among interior offensive linemen.