Chicago Bears: 4 Unsung heroes who deserve more credit in 2020
By Cody Young
Nichols has been a force in the middle for Chicago this season.
No. 3: Bilal Nichols
When Eddie Goldman decided to opt-out of the 2020 NFL season, there was cause for worry. However, Bilal Nichols has done a very solid job of filling in at the nose tackle position. The nose tackle is one of the least glamorous positions in all of football.
A lot of their time is spent eating up blocks to free up pressure from the outside, something Eddie Goldman does a great job of. Goldman is one of the better three techniques in all of the league so replacing his production was never going to be easy.
Luckily for the Bears, they had a replacement right behind him who knows the defense and was ready to step up. Nichols has done a very solid job in relief of Goldman and the Bears may have found their NT of the future.
This is only his third year in the league after being drafted by Chicago in 2018. Bilal has started all 11 games for the Bears in 2020. What has been incredible to me is that during his first two seasons, Nichols was playing at DE so switching so seamlessly to NT has been quite impressive.
His production has been a pleasant surprise to a team that was heading into the year with a big gap to fill at the nose tackle position.