Yannick Ngakoue could be the "missing piece" for Bears' defense, Emma says
CHICAGO (CBS) – The Bears' new signing, defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, is a much-needed addition to what could be a much-improved defense.
CBS 2's Jori Parys spoke with 670 The Score's Chris Emma about that signing and more from Halas Hall.
EMMA: "It's the missing piece for this defense. They needed that pass rusher. This defense did not get home to the quarterback at all last year. [It had] 20 sacks on the season. Their leader had four. That was a safety, Jaquan Brisker. They needed this guy. He's played seven years in the league, has had no fewer than eight sacks in any of those seasons. He had nine-and-a-half last year with the Colts. This guy is a proven pass rusher. He's 28 years old, still in the prime of his career. It's a one-year deal for him. He's played a lot of his career bouncing from team to team, but he says he likes it. He says he's OK with that. He's comfortable with it. He certainly has a lot to prove with this team, but look, it's what this defense needed."
PARYS: "Let's talk about this defense a little bit more, they added linebackers T.J. Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds, another big piece that they added here. How big of a step forward do you expect?"
EMMA: "I mean, they had nowhere to go but up after last season. The defense was decimated after the deal with Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn leaving, obviously and a decline in production from him as well. The injuries really took their toll last year. It's a much better defense now. Edmunds and Edwards are a huge part of that as the anchors, the middle of this defense, key investments, what it brings to the secondary as well. When you have a young group like that with a guy like Jaquan Brisker entering his second season. Kyler Gordon's having a really strong camp so far, is really active. Jaylon Johnson is in a contract season. Ideally, he get's that done beforehand, but there's a lot to prove with this entire defense. You look to the defensive front now, not only Ngakoue, but you got the rookies in [Gervon] Dexter and [Zacch] Pickens who you hope can be key parts of this defensive line and the whole identify. They took major strides this offseason really investing. Ideally you can get Matt Eberflus' scheme now playing the way he envisions it. They're a lot better from where they were a year ago."
PARYS: "The defense has been flying around out there but of course the storyline coming into this training camp was Justin Fields and the connection with receivers. We've seen it with D.J. Moore, Chase Claypool, Darnell Mooney of course. But what's stood out to you as that connection and that chemistry continues to build?"
EMMA: "We've seen a lot of Fields to Moore. I think we expected that. These are two guys who are really in sync. They developed that chemistry this offseason. I think what's more important to me frankly is the Claypool connection. You see Fields forcing him the football. That just didn't happen last year. Fields didn't really have the trust in this guy necessarily right away. Claypool you could see a lot of times was frustrated. You could see it on the sidelines. It's different. The connection is there. Fields is just feeding him the football. This is a guy who is a big body. You can just force it to him. He's going to make those plays. He's got a different kind of catch radius. He's good in traffic. Like he's got what you need at that position and he's a really strong compliment to a guy like a D.J. Moore plus Darnell Mooney, of course coming off the injury. I'm curious to see how Cole Kmet and Robert Tonyan fit as well from the tight end position. You got different playmakers. You got a really good group around Justin Fields. And from Fields' perspective, there's no more excuses."
PARYS: "Has there been anything that's stood out to you that maybe you weren't expecting?"
EMMA: "Yeah. I've been really impressed with Tyler Scott, if we're gonna stick with the theme of receivers. This is a guy who, we know he's fast. We know he's got that speed, but he's good with his routes. He's really a quick study and you see the Bears have put him out there and trusted him. I've been impressed by that. The defense seems way ahead of the offense in ... what we've seen over the course of this training camp. That's kind of expected this time of year. We've certainly seen it in covering the Bears over the years. The defense always seems to be ahead of the offense, but I want to see the offense really kind of fight back. I want to see Justin Field set that emotional edge for that group and I want to see the offense play with some more juice out there. You know, it's early in training camp. There's a long way to go still, so I'm excited to see those battles."
