Akiem Hicks continues his stellar play

Akiem Hicks came to Chicago without any fanfare. He was the New Orleans Saints’ third-round pick (89th overall) in the 2012 NFL Draft. He played three seasons and part of a fourth before they traded him to the New England Patriots. For the Pats, he played 13 games but they decided not to re-sign him.

Hicks signed with the Bears in 2016 and he’s been a stalworth of the defense since. In his first four seasons, he recorded nine sacks and 148 tackles. In just two seasons with the Bears, he has 15.5 sacks and 108 tackles.

Hicks has become the leader on the defense, both on the field and vocally. He says the things others feel. He didn’t shy away from the idea of the defense wanting to be a top-five unit this season.

“I would say I think our defense has a good foundation and just keep building on that and getting better. We were a top-10 [defense] last year, looking for top five [in 2018].”

Hicks also went public with what some considered the opinion of the locker room when he talked about a change at quarterback last season.

“The changes we need to make, hopefully we make those changes. Hopefully we put our team in a position to win.”

Hicks has been underrated during his two stellar seasons with the Chicago Bears. Despite having career seasons each year, he has no Pro Bowl in his resume. If any Bear deserves to be in the Pro Bowl it’s Hicks.

That will all change this season. The league will have their eyes open and they’ll finally see one of the best defensive ends in the NFL.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFqnhHXTEvo]

Prediction: 67 tackles, 10.5 sacks, All-Pro Team.

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