Chicago Bears: 3 things to address during the bye week
Time for the rookies
There have been very few weaknesses on this Bears team through the quarter-pole. The defense has been playing lights out, and the offense appears to be hitting its stride. So it’s tough to advocate for wholesale changes to the rotations. However, there are a couple of moves that need to be made.
First, James Daniels needs to be inserted into the starting lineup. Perhaps during the preseason, and even early in the regular season, he wasn’t quite ready. Maybe he didn’t quite have a sufficient grasp of the offense. Whatever the reason was behind keeping him out of the starting lineup, doesn’t seem to exist anymore. In what game action he has seen, Daniels has looked impressive. He has certainly looked better than current starting left guard, Eric Kush.
The other move that has to be made is getting Bilal Nichols more snaps throughout the game. Nichols has lined up some at both the nose tackle and defensive end positions this year and has performed really well in both roles. It speaks not only to his talent but his versatility. That should bode well for him seeing more action as the more positions he can effectively play, the more options it gives the staff to get him in.
In fact, back in the beginning of July, I wrote about Nichols and how excited I was for his debut. I also stated that while he would start the season as a reserve, it would not be surprising to see his playing time increase significantly throughout the season.
He is doing exactly what I expected him to do which is eat up space in the run game, but also demonstrating the ability to get pressure on the quarterback. At the time I made those predictions, Khalil Mack was not on the roster. But now, with he and Hicks taking a lot of the opposing team’s attention, Nichols has been able to make hay.
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Furthermore, Jonathan Bullard has not been performing as well as most had hoped. So if you’re wondering whose snaps Nichols’ should take, there’s my answer. However, he can also spell Hicks and Goldman as necessary.
Bottom Line
The Bears are entering their bye week on an emotional high and now have a chance to rest, get healthy, and continue to improve upon the things they need to in order to contend in the North. The only downside is that fans now have to wait two weeks to see them back in action.