Chicago Bears: 5 Players who must put up or shut up in Week 1

Bilal Nichols was supposed to break out for the Chicago Bears

Moving to the defensive side now, not as many players stand out. Khalil Mack had a down year, but still had the same amount of pressures in 2019 as he did in 2018. His sack total was just under double-digits for the first time in a long time and fans are wrongfully concerned.

Eddie Jackson was not as effective, but he still was not bad last year. He just was unable to come away with those big, game-changing plays like he did in the past. Akiem Hicks was injured. Danny Trevathan was injured. Overall though, only a few players on the defensive side of the ball need to turn things on versus the Lions and kickstart their season after not living up to expectations the year before.

One name that comes to mind is Bilal Nichols. It might not be fair to include Nichols on this list since I negated to include Anthony Miller. Both were supposed to take big steps forward in 2019 but did not. Both dealt with injuries that set them back some too. However, Miller at least came on strong towards the end of the year when Taylor Gabriel’s season was essentially over.

Nichols had a strong rookie campaign starting six games for the Bears and recording three sacks. Not bad for a fifth-rounder who was not predicted to start any games. His ability to play strong in the run game helped too as he came away with five tackles for loss and 28 combined tackles.

Despite an early hand injury in 2019, Nichols started 12 games in 2019. His results were far less impressive. He finished with only one tackle for loss and never recorded a sack. The big difference too was his defensive pressures. In 2018, Nichols had 10 but in 2019 he only came away with four. Now that Eddie Goldman is not playing this year, the team is going to need to rely heavily on Nichols this season. He is moving to the nose tackle position and must step up in that role.