Chicago Bears: 5 veterans who must step up in 2018

As expectations have heightened since last year, the Chicago Bears will be counting on a few key veterans to step up their game in 2018.

Ryan Pace has been applauded by many over the past week and a half for the job he has done with the Chicago Bears’ organization this offseason, from free agency all the way through the 2018 NFL Draft. He has taken what looked like a dismantled, aging and beat-down roster in the spring of 2017 and turned it into what some are calling a potential “surprise team” for this coming season.

The Bears have gotten younger by cutting ties with a few veteran players for various reasons, as well as signing many other youthful talents through free agency. Then, you have the draft, where they solidified a few positions and gave themselves a couple of promising players for the future at other spots.

With expectations on the rise for this Bears team, it is easy to see the reason behind all of the hype. Pace has given Mitch Trubisky all of the opportunity in the world to succeed as a second-year pro. Adding talent around him, drafting talent on both sides of the ball and keeping a top-10 defense intact for the most part has the team feeling mighty proud going into the new campaign.

The youth movement is in full swing, sure, but there are still a few veterans on the team who will need to step up their game this coming season for the Bears to hit their potential. Age comes into factor with some of them, yet others make the list due to other reasons. I’ll go into detail about why each of these five players need to be at their very best in 2018 if the Bears are to perform to the best of their ability.