Bears Roquan Smith Destroys This Screen

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The name of the game at the linebacker position is mental processing. Those that can key and diagnose quickly are the ones that help their team win.

On this particular play, Chicago’s Roquan Smith is being sent on a blitz. But he quickly reads that the Panthers are running a screen and slows up. As he reads screen, he works to mirror the RB and fights the efforts of the guard to pin his outside shoulder.

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He sheds the block, then uses quickness and a dip of the shoulder to evade the block and make the tackle on what would have been a big gain without Smith’s efforts.

This is a result of lots of film study during the week and the ability to take what he learned on film and in practice and translate it to the game.