The Chicago Bears are synonymous with great defenses. Many of the team's bountiful Hall of Famers played on the defensive side of the ball and the 1985 Bears were led by arguably the best defense the league has ever seen. During the early-to-late 2000s, the Bears put together one of the strongest defensive units in the league on a consistent basis under former head coach Lovie Smith. After Smith's firing following the 2012 season the defense plummeted. In recent years the defense has seen a new rise under coordinator Vic Fangio. The veteran coach is returning this year despite a head-coaching change and is expected to get his unit up and rolling early in the season.

Former NFL cornerback Bryant McFadden now works for CBS Sports as an analyst and feels excited about what the Bears can do on the defensive side of the ball this year.

"This is a sleeper team, but I love this team," McFadden told CBS Sports' Will Brinson on the Pick Six Podcast. "The Monsters of the Midway -- they're back. Chicago. Chicago. Quiet as kept, this was a top-10 defense a year ago. Under the radar. They have, in my opinion, the best young defensive unit in the league. Young, I'm talking about youth. Jacksonville, they're extremely young, but they've got a few quality, older experienced pieces. When you look at this Chicago Bears defense, youth is on all three phases as far as the front, the second level and the third level."

Calling Chicago's defense the "best young defensive unit in the league" is certainly high praise. The Jacksonville Jaguars do have an impressive defense but it does have some veteran pieces who play key roles. For the Bears, the veterans on defense are defensive end Akiem Hicks and cornerback Prince Amukamara, both of whom are under the age of 30. Over the course of the last two years, Hicks has asserted himself as a key part of Chicago's defensive scheme. In his first year in Chicago in 2016 he started all 16 games and ended the year with 54 tackles and seven sacks with two pass deflections and two forced fumbles. Last year he once again started all 16 games and ended the season with 54 tackles and a career-high 8.5 sacks. He has proven to be the most important part of Chicago's defensive line and is a great fit at the 5-technique defensive end spot in Fangio's system.

Some of McFadden's highest praise came for Chicago's first-round pick Roquan Smith.

"Roquan Smith? Boy, he's a dog and I'm not just saying that because he went to Georgia," McFadden said. "He is a DOG. He's a tone-setter -- he's the guy who throws people out of the club. He's like the bouncer and you have to have that type of personality on your defense."

Smith is expected to become a new centerpiece on defense because of his ability to play aggressively downhill against the run and because his athleticism allows him to be a threat from sideline to sideline. He began OTAs with the second-team defense and already earned his way up to the first-string defense before minicamp concluded near the beginning of June.

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In addition to adding Smith to the mix, Chicago also brought back Amukamara and Kyle Fuller in the secondary on new deals and have a pair of young safeties in Adrian Amos and Eddie Jackson who both impressed last season. If the Bears can find a consistent pass rush from Leonard Floyd and others it is easy to understand why McFadden is so high on their potential this upcoming year.