At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, it sometimes feels as if the Bears pull names out of a hat and turn them into solid rotational defensive linemen.
Perhaps Angelo Blackson is next:
The #Bears have agreed to terms with defensive linemen Angelo Blackson on a 2-year contract, source said. A productive player this year for AZ, now an addition to a talented Chicago defensive front.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 18, 2021
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reports Chicago is signing the former Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman to a two-year contract. Financial details weren’t shared, but I would guess that Blackson fits as a reserve who gets a fair number of snaps.
Blackson, 28, came up with 2.5 sacks, 4 tackles-for-loss, and 8 quarterback hits while playing 50 percent of the Cardinals’ defensive snaps in 16 games (9 starts). Previously, Blackson gained playing experience with the Titans (2015-16) and Texans (2017-19). He has a total of 85 games (30 starts) under his belt. There’s not much to write home about here. After all, we’re talking about a rotational defensive linemen who has played at least 50 percent of his team’s defensive snaps just once in his career. And yet, that just leaves me all the more intrigued.
One area of strength the Bears seem to have is finding defensive linemen. So while the front office hasn’t done much to garner much of a benefit of the doubt when it comes to building the offense, I’m willing to give a little rope when it comes to adding fringe defensive players to the unit. More tomorrow.