Roquan Smith was one of the standouts of the Chicago Bears defense as a rookie, and the expectation is that he can continue that in year two. Smith missed most of the offseason training last year after holding out for his rookie contract and after he signed the contract, he suffered an injury.

Even with not much time for training, he finished with 121 tackles, eight tackles for a loss, five sacks, four pass breakups, and one interception. This season he has participated in all offseason training and is ready for a big year.

“He plays very fast,” inside linebacker Mark DeLeone said via NBC Sports. “I think he’s unbelievable at seeing it pre-snap, understanding formations, understanding splits, mastering his technique and then playing fast after the ball is snapped.”

It's a new transition to new defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano's system and it hasn't phased Smith who is picking it up with no issues.

“There are only so many things you can do on defense, so it’s not like he can create an entire new ball or whatever,” Smith said. “Ball is ball.”

Pagano has been impressed with how few mistakes Smith has made during the transition and he expects big things from the former Georgia Bulldog.

It's going to be hard for Smith to build on his first year in the league, but if he does it won't take long until he is considered one of the best in the league, and the Bears defense is going to be in good shape for many years to come.