Chicago Bears: 5 Players who have let the team down most in 2021

Akiem Hicks is proving his time with the Chicago Bears is done

I absolutely love Akiem Hicks. When healthy, he has proven to be one of the best at his position. That said, he has not looked good this year, even before his injuries started piling up. Hicks played at a full level in the first three games of the season, but only finished with 0.5 sacks and one tackle for loss. He did have four quarterback hits during those games and looked better than he did after Week 5 when he returned from his groin injury.

Hicks went down with the injury in Week 4 and it kept him out of the game in Week 5. In Week 6, Hicks recorded his only sack of the year despite being limited to 41% of the defensive snaps. He had one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit in the game. Not too bad, but he’s been meh for most of the season.

As a whole, Hicks has played in only seven games. I know injuries was not supposed to be a factor in my decision here and some of you might not agree with me, but Hicks just seems washed at the age of 32. Injuries keep piling up and he’s not living up to a guy who has the second-highest salary cap hit on the roster. This is no fault to Hicks who deserved to be paid, but 1.5 sacks, three tackles for loss and six quarterback hits are not enough — even for only seven (essentially six) games.

Notable Mentions:

Marquise Goodwin, WR
Cody Whitehair, OG
Sam Mustipher, C
Eddie Goldman, DT

There have been plenty of players who have let the team down, but again, most of this falls on Matt Nagy for a horrible offensive scheme and Ryan Pace for not putting the right combination of players together.