Chicago Bears: Roquan Smith on His Way to Having All-Pro Season

Chicago Bears linebacker Roquan Smith hasn’t gotten much national attention for his play. He’s changing that with how hot he’s come out of the gate.

It seems that Chicago Bears linebacker Roquan Smith is the best-kept secret in the NFL. In his three years in the league, he recorded 100+ tackles each season. That includes the 2019 season despite missing the final four games of the season due to injury. Last season, he recorded career-highs with 139 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, and 6 quarterback hits. He also has 5 career interceptions, including his first pick-six in last week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The tackles for loss led all inside linebackers and were second among all linebackers.

For some reason, however, Smith didn’t receive the accolades that other linebackers have. He has no Pro Bowl appearances and no first-team All-Pro namings. Also, he hasn’t been named to the NFL’s top-100 list. When talking about the great linebackers, many in the national media don’t mention Smith.

Smith wants to change all that. He came out of the gate quickly in the first two games of the season. So far, he recorded 19 tackles, a sack, and that pick-six.

After the defense’s embarrassing effort in the Bears’ 34-14 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1, Smith and his defensive teammates wanted to redeem themselves. After a game with four turnovers and four sacks against the Bengals, they certainly accomplished that goal.

Smith lets his teammates and his play do all the talking

Smith’s teammates know how good of a player he is. For example, safety Tashaun Gipson is glad Smith is on his team.

Best linebacker in the game — and I tell him that. I’ve been saying that since last year. Having a guy like that makes it easy. He’s just a phenomenal player. He can run like a DB. Hit like a linebacker. He can cover like a DB. I don’t have enough good things to say about Roquan. And he’s turned into a leader. A lot of people don’t realize how young he is. I’m just happy he’s on my team.

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Another great aspect Smith has is his humbleness. He doesn’t shout about how underrated he is and he won’t beg for accolades. His teammates were more vocal about his snubs last season than he was. He lets his play on the field do the talking for him.

I’m not out there tweeting all this stuff: ‘Vote me, vote me.’ That’s not something I do. Hey, I play ball. I come out in each and every game and do what I need to do, and I let everything else handle itself…’The Bears organization knows who I am for this organization.

We hope that the Chicago Bears know what Smith means to the team. He is the best and youngest player on the unit. His rookie contract is up after next season. His price tag goes up with each great season. However, the Bears are currently in a battle with their best offensive player, wide receiver Allen Robinson. He is playing on a franchise tag and it is doubtful that the two sides come up with an agreement.

Hopefully, this doesn’t happen with Smith and the two sides don’t have any trouble coming up with a new deal. However, there was that dispute on contract language that forced Smith to hold out his rookie season. Let’s hope things work out more smoothly the second time around.