The Chicago Bears may have themselves a gem in linebacker Trevis Gipson. Despite playing in a limited number of snaps, he’s making the best out of it.
Say what you want about Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace’s draft results. He’s had trouble hitting on first-round picks. In fact, heading into this year’s draft, only one of his first-round picks is on the roster (linebacker Roquan Smith). Still, he’s done a very good job of finding gems late in the draft, especially in the fifth round.
Since he took over in 2015, Pace found Adrian Amos, Jordan Howard, Bilal Nichols, and Darnell Mooney in the fifth round. All of them started and contributed. Nichols and Mooney are currently starters on the roster.
Now, Pace might have found another gem. He drafted linebacker Trevis Gipson in the fifth round last year. Just like they want to do with Justin Fields, the Bears are easing Gipson in. He saw 71 snaps on defense last season, seven percent of the total. This season, that number is at 57, which is 22 percent.
Unlike Fields, however, the Bears have an established player ahead of him. They have Robert Quinn. Despite struggling last season, Quinn came out of the gate firing on all cylinders. They also have Jeremiah Attaochu as Quinn’s main backup.
Gipson became Khalil Mack‘s backup. Mack, being the All-World player he is, played on 63 percent of the snaps. Most of the snaps he missed came in the Week 3 game against the Cleveland Browns when he suffered a foot injury.
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Gipson taking advantage of the snaps he sees
Despite the limited number of snaps he sees, Gipson is taking full advantage of his time on the field. He already surpassed his 2020 output. He matched the number of tackles (5). Also, he has more sacks (1) and tackles for loss (2) than in 2020. Furthermore, he has two passes defended and a forced fumble, two things he didn’t do last season. Keep in mind that the Bears made him inactive in one game.
Gipson is showing that he could be a starter in the league. The more he’s on the field, the more we want to see him. Yes, Quinn signed a monster five-year contract last season, but there is a buyout after this season. Also, if they cut him with a June 1 designation they save $12.9 million. If Gipson continues to impress this season, he could help the team decide to part ways with Quinn.
Gipson made an impression on the coaches since training camp. Outside linebackers coach Bill Shuey outlined what Gipson needed to do to succeed with his opportunities.
He knows that he needs to have a plan for his opportunities because they are likely to be limited. So when he does get an opportunity, he wants to make the most of it. He can’t go in there and just wing it when those opportunities present [themselves]. He has to be calculated so when he goes in and gets those opportunities, he’ll be ready to go.
Gipson has done exactly what Shuey wanted to see from him. As he plays more, he’ll learn more, and he should really blossom. Pace certainly hit on another late-round gem and Gipson will try to keep the level of play from the Chicago Bears linebackers as high as it is.
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