With spring in the books, we're taking a look at every position group from the spring and where they stand going into the 2021 season. Today, we're finishing up, looking at inside linebackers.

Previous Installments: Special Teams | Safeties | Cornerbacks | Quarterbacks | Wide Receivers | Running Backs | Tight Ends | Offensive Line | Defensive Line | Oustide Linebackers

The inside linebacker position is as iconic a role as there is on this team under Wilcox – over the last five seasons, the Bears have anchored the middle of the defense with an athletic, hard-nosed, aggressor, which we can identify because of all the players that excelled in it under him: Devante Downs, Jordan Kunaszyk, Evan Weaver.

For a variety of reasons, last season’s performance at this group was the weakest it has been it’s been since Wilcox got here, and the spring game in March was the first look at this position in quite some time. Below are some observations, or general commentary about where each candidate at the position might stand.

First Guys Up – They played from the first drive against Garbers and cycled in on rotation after that.

Mo Iosefa – Of all the inside linebackers, I came away most impressed with Mo, who was the game’s leading tackler (six), but also just long and physical enough to sort through traffic consistently. His biggest highlight of that afternoon was stuffing Decarlos Brooks cold at the line of scrimmage, and I feel most confident that he, among the group, will see time as a starter in the fall.

Trey Paster – In the spring game, he ran side by side with Iosefa in most pairings, and specifically, to open the scrimmage portion. The team envisions him in this role as their space athlete, and moving him down from safety gives them another option to run with quick backs, or slot guys. While he showed the prerequisite athleticism going side to side, his listed weight at 225 is still a shade light at the moment for full time work here, and a summer full of gains from Brian Johnson would help immensely.

Second Guys Up – This pairing played from the second drive against Johnson and cycled in on rotation after that.

Evan Tattersall and Blake Antzoulatos – I will say that I have a personal interest in their success, since these are my 2018 and 2019 receipters. Coming into college, their films showed rounded aggression and athleticism, with Antzoulatos popping off as a surprisingly quick, undersized guy, and my guess is they will be on the two deep based on the way they were deployed in the spring game.

Some overall highlights from the pair, who played acceptably, but not to as high or disruptive a level as Orin Patu (who we spoke about last week), or Mo Iosefa:

- Drive 2 vs Zach Johnson, 1st play: Offense motions to empty and quick screens to Dancy; Antzoulatos makes the tackle. I would have loved to see a little more physicality or juice on this one.

- Drive 2 vs Johnson, 6th play: Offense motions to empty and throws a quick to Lee; Tattersall is in the area to force him out of bounds (and is the guy on the coverage).

- Drive 5 vs Johnson, 1st play: A really good engagement from Antzoulatos allows other guys to come in to sweep up for the tackle.

- Drive 5 vs Johnson, 5th play: Tattersall pressure forces a quick throw from Johnson, broken up by Isaiah Young

These pairings played after the third drive against Rowell, and cycled in on rotation after that. The highlights for these guys would indicate that they are competing (of course they are), but a little behind the others in the pecking order at the moment, for various reasons.

Andy Alfieri – On drive three with Rowell quarterbacking, managed a pressure to force the early throw, a one on one in space tackle on Stredick (Johnson quarterbacking), and another on a Chris Street carry outside.

Ryan Puskas – Like Paster, a guy moving down from the defensive backfield to linebacker. Tackled consistently well in the open field, including two shots on Jermaine Terry, and a pressure of Rowell that forced him to step up and into another tackle.

Fourth Guys Up:

Kyle Smith – Noticeably thick and massive, but I did not have many notes written on him from the time he spent out there, save for slipping on the coverage on a Stredick catch in space. (It’s important to keep this performance in context though. It wasn’t Zach Johnson’s best day either.)

Nate Rutchena – Another flexible athlete who they rolled down from the defensive backfield, Rutchena is a true freshman this year, and definitely looks still finishing up his weight gain. Developmentally, he might get there down the line, but for now, the rawness showed in glimpses. In my notes, I have him missing, then making a tackle on back to back plays on Drive 6, for example. (That is the preferred order to do things, though.)