Invoking the Name of Brian Urlacher

It seemed like a great personnel mystery, one possibly scheme-related when Bears coach Matt Eberflus ended the guessing and said Tremaine Edmunds would be the starting middle linebacker and T.J. Edwards a weakside.

Bears linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi doesn't see the assignments as a big deal.

"Honestly, they're kind of interchangeable," Borgonzi said. "Tremaine has played Mike, and it was just an easy fit to put Tremaine at Mike. He's done it before.

"T.J. has played multiple spots, so T.J. is versatile, so it just kind of worked out."

There is a bit more to it than this. The quickness Edmunds has might seem like an ideal trait for a weakside who could mimic what Shaq Leonard did in this scheme with the Colts.

However, the combination of his speed, athleticism and great reach at 6-foot-5 led the Bears to put him inside. Edwards had an excellent year in pass coverage but is only 6-1. So Edmunds seems better inside.

"I think when you play zone coverage and when you can play in space and you're that big, you take up a lot of space, just with his height and range," Borgonzi said.

The height edge works in a few ways.

"I think the biggest thing is having vision," Borgonzi said. "Get over to see routes, but also see the quarterback. Ultimately, you want to take the ball away. When we have a chance to make a play, not just get a PBU (pass break-up), but you really want to get an interception."

Borgonzi eventually invoked the name of Brian Urlacher when talking about why Edmunds fits this scheme.

"They've had a pretty big linebacker here before, I've heard, wearing No. 54, and he was 6-4 and change," Borgonzi said. "Look, when you play a lot of zone defense and you're 6-4½, you can take up a lot of space and fill up windows in zone coverages.

"So it definitely helps the coverage part of it because he is such a big person."

Edmunds had been a player Borgonzi watched in Indianapolis when he came into the draft.

"We've had quite a bit of crossover film, and when he came out of the draft in 2018 we did a lot of work on him when I was in Indianapolis," Borgonzi said. "So knew he was a great player, knew he was a really good person. So we were really excited to get him."

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