Five Bears Most Likely to Take the Next Big Step Up

Young players on all sides of the football are poised to take big steps in development this season for the Bears

Improvement is natural for talented players with time spent in an offensive or defensive system.

Last year Bears wide receiver Anthony Miller displayed real progress over his previous season but it took a while, well into the year because he a shoulder surgery and then another injury in training camp limited his effectiveness.

It's easy to look at Miller's touchdown total dropping from seven to two and see regression but this decline resulted more from function within the offense and less opportunity. His reception total climbed from 33 to 52 in a year when it had to because of injuries to others within the system. He began to understand the role more.

Normally a team will have more than one or two players fit into a most-improved category but the Bears didn't and it was reflected by their drop from 12-4 to 8-8.

There are plenty of potential most-improved candidates for this season.  

1. Bilal Nichols

The third-year defensive lineman seemed to stagnate last season after arriving on the scene in 2018 with a sudden impact. It's very easy to stagnate when you're in pain.

"He broke his hand early in the season," defensive line coach Jay Rodgers said. "I think when you're playing a position that utilizes your hands as much as we do, it takes some time."

Nichols missed three games and practice time on the back end of the injury to minimize the damage. He had to play with a cast on for a few weeks. It was disruptive to his production. He tried playing against the Saints coming out of the injury and struggled, then played without a stat line the following week. He had 16 of his 27 tackles in the second half of the season and gradually worked back.

A player who made three sacks, seven quarterback hits and five tackles for loss suddenly dropped to two quarterback hits and one tackle for loss with no sacks. He made 27 tackles, one less than in 2018.

"I broke my hand in May, almost in the same spot he broke his hand," Rodgers said. "He's playing the game of football and going against 300-pound linemen. I'm picking up my 50-pound kids. That's a big difference right there.

"And so Bilal is working extremely hard, and I think some of the production he had as a rookie was very good. And some of the things he did in his second year were better and then some things he can be better at. I have a lot of confidence in Bilal because he has a sparkle in his eye. He wants to be good. He wants to be great, and he has lofty goals for himself."

The Bears had Nick Williams sign in free agency with Detroit and Nichols is one of the reasons they think they can account for a loss of this type. With Roy Robertson-Harris a potential free agent loss next year, the Bears expect to see their third starting defensive lineman step up this season.

2. Eddie Pineiro

Pineiro went through a volatile first year, finished with 11 straight and made 82.1% of his fieled goals as a rookie. He had a game-winner and game-loser. Pineiro only stands to improve in Year 2 as most kickers do who last through the turbulence of first years.

Pineiro shad a more accurate rookie season than the following kickers had in their rookie or first full seasons: Robbie Gould (77.8%), Stephen Gostkowski (76.9%), Mason Crosby (79.5%), Matt Prater (73.5%), Adam Vinatieri (77.1%), Zane Gonzalez (75.4%), Josh Lambo (81.3%), Brandon McManus (69.2%) and Greg Zuerlein (74.2%). Almost every kicker on that list improved their accuracy in Year 2. Even kicking great Justin Tucker, who started out strong anyway, improved in Year 2.

3. Riley Ridley

The Bears saw enough in Ridley to take him in Round 4 while they only saw enough to take wide receiver Javon Wims from the same school in Round 7 a year earlier. So they obviously saw more potential in Ridley but he made only six catches as a rookie.

"The first answer I would say is that it's just that transition into the NFL," wide receivers coach Mike Furrey said, explaining why Ridley was barely heard from until late last year. "The transition of the playbook, the transition of the speed of the game, not having a lot of opportunity, probably."

Much more is expected and he'll have to produce because there is a numbers game going on with tough competition for six or seven receiver spots.

"So I think there were a lot of things last year that collectively added up into probably why he didn't maximize his ability as a rookie," Furrey said. "But I think the one thing that I'm really excited about right now, and I'll be honest with all of you, I think the biggest growth we're going t see from anybody in our (receivers) room is going to be Riley Ridley.

"I think his preparation right now, his attitude, his desire, the passion that he has to become successful in this game, he loves the process. And I believe that when you love the process, it’s going to be successful."

4. Roquan Smith

Like with Nichols, the Bears' inside linebacker had an injury take away a chunk of his season. His tackle stats declined from 121 tackles to 101, he had fewer tackles for loss (5) and sacks (2) but an erratic season included enough high points to think he'll be one of the team's most improved.

"He played some really good football last year," inside linebackers coach Mark DeLeone said. "I don’t want that to get lost in the shuffle. He had some excellent games and I think that the big thing this year is we gotta make that consistent and have that be every game."

5. David Montgomery

With 47 missed tackles caused, good for eighth in the league, and an average of 8.6 runs per every broken tackle, fifth best in the league, David Montgomery has the talent.  The reason he has only five runs of 15 yards or more was his offensive line and they will get better to some extent this season with a new approach and new line coach.

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