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With the 2020 season in the books, Pro Football Focus ranked the top 101 players, and there were three Chicago Bears that made the list.
Outside linebacker Khalil Mack was the first Bear on the list, landing at No. 10 on Pro Football Focus’ top 101 players list, which is no surprise given he was the top-graded pass rusher in 2020. While Mack’s stats didn’t leap off the page, his contributions have always gone beyond the box score.
Mack’s stats seem relatively pedestrian this season, even when you look beyond sacks to total pressures, which are usually better at getting you closer to the real story. Even in terms of total pressures, he ranked just seventh among edge rushers. But Mack’s PFF pass-rushing grade was the best at his position because he had a massive 45 pass-rush wins that never had a chance to become pressure because the ball came out before he could impact the play. He was back to his best this season, and the tape would show a genuinely dominant player each week, even if he seldom got the statistical reward.
Also landing on the list was receiver Allen Robinson, who jumped from 85th to 32nd on PFF’s 101. Robinson has easily been Chicago’s best offensive player over the last three seasons, and what he was able to accomplish with so little around him was nothing short of extraordinary.
Allen Robinson playing at an outstanding level despite awful quarterback play seems to be one of the constants of the modern NFL, and so it was again in 2020. Whether Nick Foles or Mitchell Trubisky was throwing him the football, it was all too often not where it needed to be, and yet Robinson earned an overall PFF grade of 88.4, a top-five mark among wideouts. Robinson saw 61 inaccurate targets come his way, the most in the league during the regular season. He now gets to hit free agency coming off an excellent season with a chance to find a quarterback who can match his talents.
Robinson, who’s due to become a free agent this offseason, posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. While the Bears could keep him around for another year with the franchise tag, the belief is Robinson will be playing elsewhere in 2021.
Bears running back David Montgomery also made the list, clocking in at No. 90. Montgomery had his coming-out party this season thanks to a late resurgence by this Chicago offense that actually decided to commit to running the football.
David Montgomery’s box score numbers won’t blow you away this season, but the Chicago offensive line fell apart. Montgomery barely cleared 1,100 rushing yards, but he gained an average of 3.1 yards per carry after contact, breaking 54 tackles and even busting off an 80-yard run at one point. This was a career year for a player who a lot of people liked coming into the league.
The fact that Montgomery was able to eclipse the 1,000-yard rushing mark with Nagy insisting on not running the football for half the season was certainly impressive. Montgomery’s future is certainly bright — assuming Nagy actually lets him run in 2021.
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