Chicago Bears: Round-by-round draft grades for each pick

Bilal Nichols

Defensive end

Grade: B

You knew the Bears were going to eventually address the defensive end position at some point this offseason. The team is still high on both Johnathan Bullard and Roy Robertson-Harris, but Mitch Unrein was a key loss on this defense. Now, the Bears will really have to hope one of those two will eventually step up and man that void.

Nichols will likely add to the competition at the defensive end across from Akiem Hicks. At 6-foot-4, 306 pounds, has a similar skill-set as Bullard. He has a quick first step off the snap and has an array of interior pass rush moves to get to the quarterback. He’s still raw coming from a small program at Delaware.

Nichols plays upright at times and can get washed away. However, these are aspects that can be fixed with another offseason and the right coaching. For the mean time, it will be a challenge for Nichols to crack the rotation in year one.

The expectations is for Robertson-Harris to take that next step. Bullard is expected to also take that next step and become the additional pass rusher in sub packages that they envision. Nichols has potential to be a steal in this class. It wouldn’t surprise me if cracks into the rotations midway in the season.