6/11/2023 0 Comments Bryce callahan![]() ![]() ![]() five-step, what kind of routes you’re gonna get with different drop-backs, stuff like that.” “(Amukamara) is getting me good insight on that type of game. “ The biggest thing is quarterback cues, learning to play the three-step (drop) and stuff,” Callahan said. Recognizing routes pre-snap has allowed him to improve in that aspect of his game, and he’s learning from Fuller and Amukamara. “If you think too much, then you’re like, ‘Ah, I don’t know if I wanna make (the tackle),’ you’ve just gotta (snaps fingers) react to it.”īlitzing is Callahan’s niche, but covering slot receivers is why he’s out there against three-receiver sets each week. I don’t really try to think too much,” Callahan said about his physical play. Granted, playing the slot puts him closer to the ball in proximity, but Fangio would only send a player who isn’t afraid to stick his nose into the play. If he’s got a chance, he’s got a knack of getting there and getting close to the quarterback and making a good play for us.”Ĭallahan has turned into one of the team’s better open-field tacklers, and the defensive back who is counted on most often to rush the quarterback. “He’s a very instinctive player, both in coverage and when we do rush him. Last year, Callahan’s blitz turned into a strip-sack of one of the biggest quarterbacks in the league, Ben Roethlisberger. “He likes when we call something where he’s, which happens every now and then.” “ Oh no, he likes to come in there,” Fangio said. He blitzed twice Monday - the hit that led to the incomplete pass and a second-quarter blitz helped lead to an Aaron Lynch sack. He also blitzed 14 times per SportRadar, leading all Bears defensive backs. ![]() ![]() That helped Callahan put up his most productive campaign in 2017 with six passes defensed and two interceptions. “Learning and diagnosing their calls and learning how to play the defense better has helped a lot.” “Been blessed to be in the same system for now this is my fourth year,” he said. He’s had four years with Fangio and Ed Donatell, joining Kyle Fuller, Eddie Goldman and Adrian Amos as the only members of the starting defense who go back that far. It’s a good thing.”Īs we analyze all the players who have benefitted from continuity on defense, Callahan is a prime example. “(The team’s confidence) shows they’re willing to trust me to go out there and make plays. “ I always wanted to keep a positive outlook, but the way the league is, it’s a hard business, so I never thought out to pan out to be what it is, but I did think I’d be playing somewhere,” Callahan said. He still has yet to play in more than 12 games in a season, but Callahan is still starting, and there was never really a question about it. He just kept improving during his rookie year, eventually we put him in there at some point in the nickel spot, I don’t remember what point in the season it was, and he’s played the nickel position well for us since then, when he’s been available.”Ĭallahan’s first start came in San Diego in Week 9 of the 2015 season, and he had his first NFL pass defensed that game, a 22-19 win. “Right off the bat he showed good instincts, and the more he showed his good instincts and quickness, you kind of forgot his lack of size. “ He was an undrafted free agent from Rice that our scouts had a good feel for,” Fangio said. When I said to Fangio that none of us knew who Callahan, who turns 27 this October, was four summers ago, he responded, “We didn’t either.” He played nine games in his rookie season 2015, 11 games in 2016 and 12 last season. Then came third down, and Callahan used his sub-4.5 speed to get to Wilson shortly after the snap, hitting the quarterback on an incomplete pass, which lead to a Seahawks punt.Ĭallahan has maintained his job as the team’s nickel corner since midway through his rookie season in 2015, and despite opportunities to find competition via the draft or free agency, the Bears have maintained confidence in Callahan, who has struggled to stay healthy and stay stack. If Dissly had caught it, Callahan would have had a tackle for loss. He was all over the 6-foot-4, 265-pound Dissly when Wilson attempted the swing pass, which fell incomplete. On the next play, Callahan followed tight end Will Dissly to the flat. ![]()
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