Chicago Bears: 5 Breakout players set to shine in 2019

4. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Safety

Speaking of a player who’d benefit from playing on the Chicago Bears’ elite defense, here is Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. I don’t understand the negative publicity he receives on his play. The man is a ball hawk, having recorded 14 interceptions in his five seasons in the NFL. Packers fans like to talk about how terrible a tackler he is but he’s amassed 456 tackles. Also, he has four forced fumbles and 5.5 sacks.

Pairing Clinton-Dix with his former college teammate Eddie Jackson makes the Bears’ safety unit very strong. If they both play as well as they did at Alabama, opposing quarterbacks will have a difficult time completing passes. They had success on possibly the greatest college football program ever and want the same for the Bears.

Many people talk about Clinton-Dix’s down season in 2018. However, in seven games with the Packers, he recorded three interceptions, a forced fumble, and a sack. In nine games with Washington, he didn’t record an interception but recorded 66 tackles, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. That wasn’t enough, though.

In the offseason, many people expected Clinton-Dix to be one of the safeties to cash in. That didn’t happen, however. He ended up taking a one-year, $3 million prove-it deal. That money is half of what he earned in 2018. Now he comes to Chicago to play an integral part of its elite defense.

Clinton-Dix can help take this defense from elite to all-time great. After that, his salary demands could go through the roof. We can cross that bridge when we come to it, though. For now, let’s see him fit into this defense and help take it to greater heights.