Chicago Bears: 3 Early breakout candidates for 2019 season

2. Bilal Nichols, DT

A fifth-round pick in the 2018 draft, Bilal Nichols was seen as a potential sleeper at the time that the Bears selected him. The question, however, was how long it would take for him to realize his physical potential and start seeing meaningful snaps on the field. As it turned out, he was contributing as part of the defensive end rotation very early in his rookie season.

In his first NFL campaign, the Delaware product notched 328 snaps on the year, which accounted for 31.18 percent of the snaps at the defensive end spot opposite of Akiem Hicks in the Bears rotation. Nichols finished the year with 28 total tackles, three sacks, five tackles for loss and seven quarterback hits, proving to be productive even in a rotational role.

As Nichols heads into his second year, though, he is in line to see a spike in his snaps and should be the No. 1 guy in that rotation on the three-man line with Hicks at the other end and Eddie Goldman at nose tackle. Nichols showed as a rookie, even as a player pegged as needing development coming into the draft, that he has the chops to perform at a high level if given the opportunity — espeically with a year of experience under his belt.

It’s fair to say that Nichols simply offers more upside than the likes of Jonathan Bullard and Roy Robertson-Harris at the defensive end spot. Thus, Nagy and new defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano should look to take advantage of that by giving him more opportunities. With that, he is primed to take a big leap forward and become a household name for this stout defense.