Ezekiel Ansah Living Up to Potential with Huge Day vs. Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions defensive end Ezekiel "Ziggy" Ansah turned the annual Thanksgiving game into his personal feast. Ziggy ate all afternoon against the Chicago Bears in Detroit's 34-17 win.

The nationally televised game showed off what Lions fans have known for some time—Ansah is quickly becoming one of the most impactful defensive players in the entire league. He's come a long way in a short time.

When general manager Martin Mayhew chose Ansah over (among others) Dee Milliner, Kenny Vaccaro and Jonathan Cooper, skeptics raised some eyebrows. Chris McCosky of the Detroit News mockingly echoed the sentiments of many fans right after Detroit used the fifth pick in the 2013 draft on the glaringly inexperienced Ghana native,

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Yeah, but he didn't even know how to put his pads on three years ago. He was a special teams guy for two years and started only nine games at BYU last year. He's too raw. It's going to take at least two years to develop him.

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Ziggy was a risky, divisive pick to be sure. Nobody is complaining now after just 26 games, well before many thought he would be a regular contributor. If anyone is still complaining after the incredible outing on Thanksgiving, that person is a blind hating turkey.

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PFF credits Ansah with 10 (!!!) QB hurries yesterday and 12 overall pressures. That's unbelievable.

— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) November 28, 2014"

To put those numbers into context, consider this:

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Also, if PFF is right -- Ezekiel Ansah had TEN quarterback hurries on Jay Cutler. That would put him 39th among 4-3 DEs this season in 1 gm

— Michael Rothstein (@mikerothstein) November 28, 2014"

While Pro Football Focus tends to be generous with the concept of a quarterback hurry, it's still incredibly impressive. 

Here's one play where he definitely impacted Jay Cutler without sacking Chicago's quarterback.

NFL Game Rewind

Ansah lines up in a two-point stance, essentially as an outside linebacker flanking Ndamukong Suh. This alignment creates an isolation block for one of the pass-rushers. 

NFL Game Rewind

Sun and Ansah operate a twist, with Suh pushing outside as he steers the initial double-team backwards. Ziggy loops in behind him and attacks the center. He quickly disengages with a violent shove to the chest, rocking Roberto Garza out of balance. 

NFL Game Rewind

Before the guard can get over to help, Ansah is already through the gap and tracking quickly after Cutler. Look at the quarterback's feet; that's sheer panic, reflected in his cowering immediately after releasing the pass. 

That play highlights his improved technique. Ansah is now effectively packaging the intricacies of hand placement, sinking the hips and striking the blocker at the exact right time with his already freakish athleticism. 

Many players are either great athletes or great tacticians. Few put both together, and the ones who do are eminently recognizable: J.J. Watt, Suh, Aldon Smith, Demarcus Ware to name a select few.

For Ansah to merit inclusion in that elite group of pass-rushers so quickly is a testament to his work ethic, quick learning curve and some excellent instruction from the coaching staff, notably defensive line coaches Kris Kocurek and Jim Washburn. Their protege has been making impact plays all season:

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Ziggy Ansah crushed Geno Smith as he threw that pick. Slay returned it to the NY 34.

— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) September 28, 2014"

Another play from the Chicago game demonstrates Ansah is also developing quickly as a run defender. His length and amazing first and second step off the edge are way too much for most tackles to handle, as he shows here.

NFL Game Rewind

He's pushing off with his second step just as left tackle Jermon Bushrod begins to move his feet. Ansah blows around the edge so quickly he had time to quote MC Hammer, "you can't touch this." Running back Matt Forte found out Ziggy was too legit to quit on this 1-yard loss. 

Ansah's Pro Football Focus grades reflect the rapid overall improvement. 

	Overall	Run Defense	Pass Rush	Pass Coverage	Overall DE Rank
2013	-2.2	2.4	-2.8	0.0	27th
2014	18.5	6.6	9.1	2.0	3rd

In his rookie campaign, Ziggy was far more hit-or-miss. While he paced all first-year players with eight sacks, he often looked tentative and was frequently neutralized by blockers with better technique who were playing the game faster than he could. 

Those offensive advantages are shriveling away quickly. As Paula Pasche of the Oakland Press reported, coach Jim Caldwell was effusive in his kind words for his young pass-rushing wunderkind:

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“I don’t think he’s scratched the surface just how good he’s going to be,’’ Caldwell said. “He is some kind of player and he’s developing by leaps and bounds. Every week he’ll do something that will sort of vault him into a different level when you’re evaluating.’’

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It's hard to conceive how much better Ansah can really become. He's already ascended to being one of the most feared all-around defensive ends in just 26 games. Ziggy is a big reason why the Lions defense ranks first in scoring and second in yards per game through 12 games. 

All statistics are from Pro Football Reference. Advanced stats are from Pro Football Focus, which requires a subscription for premium content.