Chicago Bears: Who should stay and who should go

Shea McClellin — Inside Linebacker

The Chicago Bears have moved Shea McClellin around to try to utilize his skills.

He was too weak to take on linemen from defensive end.

He was too slow in coverage as an outside linebacker.

Now he is at inside linebacker, and while the stats say he is playing well (he leads the defense with 73 tackles), but when you analyze McClellin’s play further, you can see that he just is not an impact player.

Mike Mulligan of the Chicago Tribune wrote an article about McClellin’s impact, or lack thereof.

Heading into last Sunday’s game, Mulligan wrote, McClellin had 66 tackles, 45 against the run and 21 against the pass.

Of the 45 run tackles, 15 of them came against runs of four runs or less, and ten of them were assisted. That means he had only FIVE solo tackles on short runs, and only one tackle for a loss. Most of his tackles have been in pursuit.

The Chicago Bears are 29th in the NFL against the run. If a runner gets past the line, there is no help from McClellin to stop him.

Against Washington, Christian Jones was utilized on some blitzes. Kirk Cousins and running back Matt Jones took advantage of the middle that was left open, and McClelllin gave up chunks of yards.

Yes, McClellin has a lot of tackles, but he is not stopping anyone from gaining big yards. That is costing the Bears.

It is time for the Shea McClellin experiment to be pulled. His contract for next season was not guaranteed, so he can be let go and it will not hurt.

One thing to note is that defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is for some reason a Shea McClellin fan. He went so far as to call him a stud. Shea has shown on the field that he is anything but a stud. Making a tackle after a 10, 20, or 30-yard run is not helping the team.

McClellin may be a good guy, but he is not a good NFL player, and he needs to go.

Next: Zach Miller