Chicago Bears: 3 breakout candidates for the 2019 season By Patrick Sheldon - June 1, 2019
The Chicago Bears find themselves in very rare territory as they begin organized team activities (OTAs) for the 2019 season. After an incredibly successful (and surprising to some) 2018 campaign, the team enters their offseason program as the reigning NFC North champions and the hunted in the division.
Any chance of Matt Nagy gradually raising expectations has gone out the window, as it is officially Super Bowl or bust in the Windy City. Even as last year wore on, the idea of them being legitimate contenders started to pick up an awful lot of steam.
If the team is going to meet or exceed those lofty expectations, they will obviously need a repeat of the big time performances they got from players like Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, Tarik Cohen, and Eddie Jackson last season. Those guys played at an incredibly high level.
So who will step up this season, as the team enters year two of Matt Nagy’s system, but year one of Chuck Pagano‘s system on the defensive side of the ball?