Bears will stay the course with rookie McClellin and thats the best thing for him

BOURBONNAIS, Ill.Looking a little deeper at the Shea McClellin situation at defensive end... (and if the coverage and critiquing of the rookie defensive end has seemed tsunami-ish, theres a reason: McClellin is the first No. 1 draft choice of Phil Emery, and drafting, particularly the No. 1s, is the No. 1 reason why the Bears GM job was open in the first place.)
As I discussed Tuesday morning with Dan McNeil and Matt Spiegel on The McNeil and Spiegel Show on WSCR-AM 670, I spent some of the last couple days going back and looking again at as much film as I could of McClellins play at Boise State.
What I was looking for was what worked so well for McClellin, because what the rookie was doing too often last Saturday and especially on Sunday wasnt working well at all.
He broke up a couple of passes, which qualify as impact plays, but one was down field in zone-blitz coverage and the other was at the line of scrimmage, and the Bears want McClellin to be past the line of scrimmage, not just at it.
But McClellin as a pass rusher was a flop and thats why he was a No. 1 pick and the best indicator of where the Bears view their biggest need to be.
Two- vs. three?
What I saw was McClellin primarily upright in a two-point stance rather than with a hand on the ground in a three-point. The Bears have McClellin exclusively hand-down and a question would be whether they are force-feeding a player something that does not play to his strength.
Its not that simple.
The reason for coaches putting McClellin exclusively in the three-point sprinters stance is for explosiveness. They want him forcing tackles to deal with as much speed as possible.
DeMarcus Ware is among the NFLs elite pass rushers at 6-foot-4, 254 pounds, about the same size as McClellin. Ware plays in a two-point stance. But Ware plays in a Dallas scheme with a 3-4 core.
Terrell Suggs in Baltimore, Osi Umenyiora for the New York Giants, even Clay Matthews up in Green Bayall are in the 6-3, 255-pound bracket with McClellin. Matthews (also in a 3-4) rushes from both two- and three-point starts, but is a blur upfield when he works with his hand on the ground.
For what its worth, NFL sack leader Jared Allen is on record as stating that if the Minnesota Vikings tell him to play in a two-point stance, hes gone.
Dont look for McClellin to go back to Boise anytime soon.
See a little...
McClellins problems in the short stretch of camp so far are based in his thinking too much, and seeing too much. If he sees a little, meaning that he sees exactly whats in front of him and deals with it, he sees a lot.
If he sees a lot, meaning the whole play, which is what hes seeing now as he stands too upright, he actually sees nothing.
The Bears one-gap scheme is based on a player owning his assigned gap. McClellin is seeing too much too often, and at a time when he is only beginning to work on NFL-grade techniques and moves, the result is paralysis at the hands of an obliging offensive tackle.
Outside linebacker? Nope
The Bears would be extremely happy to get 21 sacks from McClellin over his first two years. Thats what they did get from Roosevelt Colvin in 2001-2002 using Colvin as a strong-side linebacker (the position he beat out Brian Urlacher at in 2000) and moving him to defensive end in nickel.
McClellin wont be doing that anytime soon.
And Colvins sacks came primarily when he put his hand on the ground and rushed the passer.
Thats what the Bears have in mind for McClellin. Period.