Chicago Bears: Three players who stood out vs the Bengals
Leonard Floyd
The second player to stand out against the Bengals was outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, who really needs to step up in his third season. Considering Sam Acho is slated to be the starter along side him and Aaron Lynch‘s health is a question mark, it’s time for Floyd to be a breakout player.
Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times recently wrote about how much Floyd has grown as a player compared to last year. He noted that the biggest improvement toalongsidehas been his hand placement. Not only is he faster with his hands, but he’s placing them better when he’s going up against offensive tackles.
Floyd has always been an athletic freak. There’s video of him covering slot receivers in college and he has shown tremendous closing speed in the NFL. It’s all about consistency with him, though, and that’s where better hand placement will help him.
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Against the Bengals, Floyd certainly flashed his pass-rushing ability. Floyd used a tremendous swim move to get pressure on Dalton. The right tackle has absolutely no chance. If the right guard didn’t come over to help, Floyd would have certainly sacked Andy Dalton on the play.
Sure, it’s only one preseason game, but if Floyd’s motor is on, he can certainly be a 12 sack type of player for the Bears this season. His speed off the edge and new found hand usage can make him an absolute monster of the Midway.