There’s no one more disappointed in Khalil Mack’s performance last season than Khalil Mack. But you have to figure with Mack’s determination, and the constant chattering of NFL analysts underrating his impact, that Mack is due for a big season.
While CBS Sports recently ranked Mack the ninth-best edge rusher in the game — which felt way too low — NFL.com analyst Adam Schein is the latest to pile it on Mack.
Schein compiled a list of the players under the most pressure in 2020, which included Mack at No. 2. And while there’s no doubt that Mack saw a dip in production in 2019, it was surprising to hear Schein allude to the fact that he doesn’t consider Mack an elite player anymore.
When Chicago traded for Mack just before the start of the 2018 season, I thought it was one of the biggest steals in memory. And Mack burst on the scene in his Bears debut, with a strip-sack and pick-six in his first half of play. Although he would miss two games that season due to an ankle injury, Mack still finished with 12.5 sacks, 18 quarterback hits and six forced fumbles, earning his third first-team All-Pro designation.
But at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, did Mack make an impactful play last year? OK, five forced fumbles is a nice figure, but 8.5 sacks just doesn’t cut it. Honestly, I’m not really sure how he made a fifth consecutive Pro Bowl.
Two seasons into Mack’s Chicago tenure, the Bears have yet to win a playoff game. Obviously, this franchise’s most glaring issue is the quarterback position. But Mack is supposed to be a top-five defensive player. That’s why the Bears traded away a pair of first-rounders — and consequently handed out a record-setting extension — for his services. Last year, he was most definitely not elite.
It’s more than fair to criticize Mack’s performance in 2019 — he had a career-low 47 tackles and his 8.5 sacks and 14 quarterback hits were his lowest since his rookie season.
But Mack’s contributions have always been so much more than just the boxscore. He saw double and triple teams on the regular, and it didn’t help that Akiem Hicks was out for most of the season and Leonard Floyd struggled sacking the quarterback.
Although Mack appears poised for a bounce-back season in 2020, especially with the return of Hicks and the free-agent acquisition of edge rusher Robert Quinn, who is someone that can take advantage of those one-on-one opportunities that Floyd couldn’t. Not only will defenses have to account for Mack coming off the edge, now they’ll have to worry about Quinn, which should only benefit Mack.
[vertical-gallery id=449460]
[lawrence-related id=449668,449661,449660,449570,448784]