All-Pro jog rusher applauds Bears decision to draft punter Tory Taylor – Yahoo

All-Pro jog rusher applauds Bears decision to draft punter Tory Taylor first and necessary seemed on NBC Sports activities Chicago

When the Bears primitive their fourth-pick in very finest month’s draft to verify punter Tory Taylor, one would possibly perchance well sense town of Chicago’s jaw collectively dropping. The massive expectation used to be that the crew would add a jog rusher to the mix, or even but any other depth allotment on the offensive line.

Rapidly the decision changed into extremely polarizing with many on social media mocking the decision, and others questioning why the crew added a specialist over a participant who would possibly perchance have the possibility to play more on offense or protection.

Vulnerable All-Pro linebacker Shawne Merriman disagrees with the detractors, even supposing.

“I don’t test at these guys as special teamers,” Merriman mentioned on a recent episode of NBC Sports activities Chicago’s “Below Heart” podcast. “I test at them as extra defensive gamers.”

Merriman performed his whole Chargers profession with Mike Scifres, one among the most prolific punters in franchise history. Over that time, he mentioned the crew considered Scrifres as a 12th man on the unit. It’s straightforward to gaze why whenever you occur to verify at just a few of Scifres’ profession highlights, like 2013 when he placed Fifty three.6% of his punts inner the 20-yard line, whereas most effective giving up touchbacks at a 1.8% price. These numbers are spectacular.

Bears special groups coordinator Richard Hightower known as Taylor’s mix of leg strength and precision “uncommon.” Add in Taylor’s means to verify major dangle time on punts so the protection crew can speed down the sphere, and the Bears place confidence in he in total is a weapon, like Scifres used to be for the Chargers.

“They’re in total asserting we bought a guy that’s going to verify our protection in a better scenario,” Merriman mentioned. “I wasn’t against that. It’d be jaw-dropping to everyone else, however whenever you occur to suppose a guy can income that protection on that stage, you contrivance that draft pick.”

The Bears protection relies on generating stress with their entrance four and leaving seven gamers in protection to contrivance performs on the ball as gradually as that you simply would possibly perchance well deem. If Taylor can pin offenses deep of their very have territory, it’ll play to those strengths.

“There is essentially most effective a particular quantity of positions in soccer where you would possibly perchance well manipulate the game the style you like to manipulate the game, and punting is one among them,” mentioned Taylor on the very finest day of rookie minicamp. “I’m lucky to be one among the fellows on the sphere who has the ball in his arms and which implies at that person time length you are up to velocity of the game and clearly I have to obtain.”

Click here to appear at the Below Heart Podcast.