The Forgotten Inside Linebacker Ready To Breakout In 2018

From now, until the end of April, we’ll be hearing conversation after conversation about who the Bears could be taking in this year’s NFL Draft. Opinions vary from source to source and most of the conversations center around what positions the team actually needs. Unanimous opinions on who the Bears need are offensive linemen and pass-rushers. They need someone to man that interior of the line with Josh Sitton being released and someone to attack the quarterback opposite of Leonard Floyd. However, some opinions out there remain that inside linebacker might be a need that the Bears address early on in the draft. It’s understandable. Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman manned those posts extremely well when they were both on the field, but Trevathan has been injured off and on and Freeman has been injured and suspended. Freeman is almost a certain cut candidate once he can clear his physical and the Bears lost talented depth piece Christian Jones, who was just coming into his own in Fangio’s scheme, to the Detroit Lions. That leaves Trevathan, John Timu and Nick Kwiatkoski on the roster at inside linebacker. Kwiatkoski is the lynch-pin for this whole debate centering around whether or not the Bears need to address ILB early on in the draft. Is he good enough to become a full-time starter and help lead this defense? The answer may surprise you, but Kwiatkoski is a damn good football player. https://youtu.be/MV0lxnXS_to?t=33 Drafted out of West Virginia in the 4^th round, Kwiatkoski came in and contributed on special teams early on and was a depth piece at linebacker. However, due to the injuries to Trevathan and Freeman mentioned above, he saw significant playing time his rookie year and again in his sophomore campaign. All he did in those games…was get better and impress the coaching staff. When Freeman went down with the torn pectoral muscle early on in 2017, Fangio talked about how he was confident in Nick to step into his role.

“He came along last year as he played more and more. He's had a good camp for us this year and I have confidence in him to go in there and do a good job and nothing will change.”

That perception could have only grown this season as Kwiatkoski started 6 games and registered 34 tackles and 2 sacks on the season. He’s instinctive, quick to the ball and just an overall solid football player. Is he going to be anything spectacular? Most likely not. But he’s dependable, isn’t going to give up the big play and is a leader on the field. That’s exactly what the Bears need at the ILB position opposite Trevathan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbHwciXbKkM He’s also shown that he gets better the more and more playing time he receives. He could take a big step forward in 2018 if the Bears give him that job. Do the Bears still need to address the linebacker position in the draft? Absolutely. Having only Timu behind Trevathan and Kwiatkoski makes that an obvious answer. But they may not address it as early as some Bears fans may think. Will the Chicago Bears remain a Top-10 defense in 2018? It largely rests on the shoulders of #44.