Getty LB Robert Quinn of the Chicago Bears
Robert Quinn was, at least fiscally, the biggest free agent acquisition the Chicago Bears made this offseason. With the hopes of upgrading its pass rush, Chicago let Leonard Floyd walk, and they went out and signed Quinn, who led the Dallas Cowboys in sacks last season. They inked Quinn to a five-year, $70 million deal, and he’ll make at least $27 million guaranteed with the Bears, all of which will come in 2020 and 2021, per Over the Cap.
So far, though, the Bears’ newest pass rusher is off to a bit of a slow start, at least stats-wise. Quinn missed the team’s first game of the season against the Lions, and he has started just two games out of five. He forced a fumble on his first play as a Bear Week 2, and he picked up a key fumble forced by Kyle Fuller Week 5 against Tampa Bay, but so far, through five games, he has one sack, two tackles and a quarterback hit.
His barebones stat line hasn’t gone unnoticed, either. On the Hamp O’B and Koz Show this week, Bears legends Dan Hampton and Ed O’Bradovich sounded off on Quinn, and they did not hold back.
O’Bradovich on Quinn: ‘I Don’t See Anything With This Guy’
O’Bradovich, who played defensive end for the Bears for 10 years, from 1962-1971, dissected Quinn’s play, and it’s clear he doesn’t like what he has seen from the edge rusher so far.
“I’m gonna tell you a guy that’s missing in action, is Quinn, the $70 million dollar man. $30 million of it guaranteed,” O’Bradovich said. “I’ve seen him make one play. One. Otherwise, he’s almost invisible in the screen. I just don’t see it. I see no aggressivness out of him. I don’t see any bull rushes, any swim moves, any dipping the shoulder to the outside — I don’t see anything with this guy.”
O’Bradovich’s primary criticism seemed to stem from the amount of money Quinn is making weighed against his statistical output so far.
“He’s one of … sometimes we have three down linemen, or four, whatever you want to call the outside guys, outside linebackers, pass rushers, whatever. They’re down linemen, OK? This kid does nothing. He doesn’t put the pressure on the passer, I don’t see him get involved in the runs, I don’t see him close down. When the guy blocks down in front of him, he doesn’t come down. You know, you’re talking about a lot of money.”
Hampton, a member of the Bears’ famed ’85 defense, agreed with O’Bradovich’s assessment. “On defense, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. Thus far, he’s been the weak link.”
That may or may not be true, but Quinn has put pressure on opposing quarterbacks — more on that later.
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Quinn Hasn’t Quite Lived Up to the Hype … Yet
“He came in with all this hooplah: ‘He’s gonna be the guy, he’s gonna do this, he’s gonna help everybody’. Well, excuse me? He hasn’t done a damn thing.” O’Bradovich said about Quinn.
When co-host Mark Carman noted Quinn did have five quarterback pressures, the stat did little to impress O’Bradovich, who was more upset that Quinn did not register a tackle in the Bears’ most recent win against the Buccaneers.
Former Bears wideout Glen Kozlowski, who calls into the show every week, also weighed in. When Carman asked what he thought of Quinn’s performance so far this season, Kozlowski responded with a question of his own: “Who is he?,” he asked about Quinn with a chuckle, to which Hampton responded: “I saw him at the Bank of Lake Forest yesterday.”
“He cashes those big checks,” Kozlowski added, “But I don’t know who he is.”
One thing they didn’t discuss was that while Quinn’s stats aren’t exactly up there with league leaders, he has been very effective at pressuring the quarterback when he has been on the field. He may have just one sack so far, but he has been getting in the quarterback’s face, which can only help Khalil Mack and the rest of this defense as the season progresses.
Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn led a Bears defense that pressured Tom Brady on 43.2% of his dropbacks, his highest rate in a game since 2017.
Khalil Mack
➤ 6 pressures, 2 sacks on 34 pass rushes (17.6%)
Robert Quinn
➤ 5 pressures on 28 pass rushes (17.9%)
Robert Quinn has been VERY effective this year
Quinn was significantly above the league average in avg. separation from QB on Thursday against the Bucs. Similar to Mack from earlier this year, don’t buy the narrative that he’s not effective just because he doesn’t have sack #’s
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Bears Legends Blast Pass Rusher: ‘He Hasn’t Done a Damn Thing’