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Montez Sweat earns another career first and is looking to continue building entering his second season with the Bears

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Kole Noble | Last updated Jul 22, 2024 4:01 PM ET

The 2023 season was filled with a lot of firsts for defensive end Montez Sweat. First year (technically half) with the Chicago Bears. First Pro Bowl selection of his career. First double-digit sack season. First player in NFL history to lead two different teams in sacks in the same season. And now, first time cracking the NFL Top 100 list.

The NFL started rolling out the first new editions to this year's Top 100 rankings today starting at #100 and going all the way to #81.

Within this group of players, the Bears only had one come in on the list with Sweat being ranked #82 in the league by his peers.

Sweat has somehow never made the Top 100 list in any of his previous four seasons and finally broke onto the scene this time around. Rightfully so after the entire NFL landscape saw how dominant and impactful he can be as a pass rusher after single-handedly transforming the Bears defense over the second-half of the season.

"When I got here, I felt the hungry group," Sweat explained. "I felt a resilient, humble group. People that wasn't scared to sacrifice for the man beside them and wanted to play for the man beside him, so I think that's why we elevated as a group and plan on doing the same [this season]."

Montez Sweat has been ranked No. 82 in the NFL Top 100.

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— Dave (@dave_bfr) July 22, 2024

The decision to trade for the now veteran pass rusher proved to be the ideal situation for the Bears' front office, who were also quick to lock him in on a new deal as soon as he walked into the building. Now, Sweat will be taking on a bigger role with the Bears defense and has become a true leader in the locker room since returning this summer while looking to continue building on his career momentum.

"That's the No. 1 thing — he looks like he's in great shape," head coach Matt Eberflus said at the start of training camp. "That's the first thing so that he can put more good reps together, stack those reps, be it eight, 10, whatever it needs to be, where we want him to go to."

The Bears are ready to see even more of the "Tez Effect" that Eberflus coined during the 2023 season pay even more dividends during the 2024 season. By the time the season comes to a close, expect to see his name even higher on the NFL Top 100 list.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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