Chicago Bears: 5 Inside linebackers to target in 2020 NFL free agency

Patrick Onwuasor (Age: 27)

Patrick Onwuasor fought hard to get to the NFL. He was an undrafted rookie free agent who signed with the Baltimore Ravens. After making the team and playing mostly on special teams in his rookie season he played in all the team’s 32 games over the next two seasons, starting 25 of them.

In his fourth season, Onwuasor had high hopes of playing well and garnering a bigger paycheck. Sadly, that didn’t happen. He played in 14 games but only made 6 starts. He was the middle linebacker but fell out of favor with the coaches. They didn’t feel he fit at middle linebacker and handle the signal calling.

The team decided on using a three-man platoon at the position. After starting the first five games of the season and tallying more than 90 percent of the snaps in each game, he started just one game and never played in more than 42 percent of the snaps the rest of the season.

Onwuasor is a good tackler, covers well, and is a great blitzer. Despite having his snaps drastically cut, he still finished third on the team in tackles with 64. A move from Baltimore to Chicago could help him a great deal. He could be a dependable backup and not have to worry about calling signals. He’d be surrounded by better players so all he has to do is play the game.

He’s shown that he has good instincts and he just needs to continue to do that. With Chicago, he’ll be able to do it.