Montez Sweat is a good, but great edge rusher. His ranking on the recent edge rusher ranking conducted by ESPN tells a story of where he stands. Jeremy Fowler polled executives, coaches, and scouts to see who the best edge rushers in the NFL were.
While Sweat did not make the top ten on enough voters' ballots to crack the list, he was on enough voters' ballots to be noted as a player receiving votes. In total, 20 different edge rushers saw votes in the top ten list.
The Chicago Bears Have One Strong Edge Rusher
Sweat is right about the number 20 mark among players at his position. That is good, and better than most teams' top starter. However, some teams that do not have a top 20 player invest more in the depth of their unit and bring in a variety of rushers.
Sweats' ranking speaks to an issue the Bears have. He is right on the fringe of being a star player who can be trusted to lead a passing rushing room. However, he is not quite there and likely needs to be closer to one of the committee groups.
The Houston Texans have two players in the top ten. The Jacksonville Jaguars had two players getting votes. The Pittsburgh Steelers had TJ Watt ranked seventh, and then both Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig got other votes. However, the other teams are leaning into their star edge rusher to get the job done.
The issue is that Sweat is in the tier with Highsmith, Herbig, Travon Walker, and Josh Hines-Allen. When they are a duo or a group of rushers, they are a legitimate threat. However, when it is just them, they struggle to carry the room.
Another name that can be compared to Sweat is Jaelan Phillips, who also got votes in the top ten. He had a down year with the Miami Dolphins, but was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles and put his name right back on the map. He would not have gotten the same number of votes if he had spent the whole year in Miami.
So, the Bears are in a tough spot. They can hope Sweat can ascend closer to a top ten player who can carry a room, or they can try to find the fringe top 20 player who complements him and makes his life easier. This ranking revealed they need one or the other.
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