NFL analyst believes Akiem Hicks could be very helpful to this Super Bowl contender
Akiem Hicks has been a part of the Chicago Bears organization for 6 seasons now. He has been a focal point of the Bears' defense ever since. His impact has been tremendous on the field. Hicks is not the guy that shows up on the stats sheet a lot, but the work he puts in is so important.
However, Hicks has been having more and more injury problems for the past three years. He has missed over 20 games during that time and when he was on the field, he didn't look as dominant as he once was. When you mix that with the coaching changes we see at literally every position, you could expect Hicks to look elsewhere.
Well if you ask Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report, the elsewhere should be the Denver Broncos. In fact, he believes that Hicks could be very helpful to the Broncos.
Here is what he said in his recent article:
The moment the Denver Broncos traded a treasure trove of draft picks and three players for Russell Wilson, they were officially in win-now mode.
That means they should be aggressive in addressing areas they can improve. After losing Shelby Harris in the Wilson trade, they acquired defensive tackle D.J. Jones. That's a start, but the interior of the line could still use some pop.
Jones is a good run defender but only had two sacks and has never topped three in a season. Akiem Hicks had 3.5 and was limited to nine games last year.
Dre'Mont Jones and Harris were the sack leaders on the Broncos last season, so they relied heavily on their interior defenders to get a rush. Even at 32 years old, Hicks can wreak havoc when healthy.
According to Sports Info Solutions, he had 14 total pressures and six tackles for loss in nine games last year. In the loaded AFC West, the Broncos could use all the pass-rush help they can get, and Hicks has the flexibility to provide it from multiple alignments on the inside.
That means they should be aggressive in addressing areas they can improve. After losing Shelby Harris in the Wilson trade, they acquired defensive tackle D.J. Jones. That's a start, but the interior of the line could still use some pop.
Jones is a good run defender but only had two sacks and has never topped three in a season. Akiem Hicks had 3.5 and was limited to nine games last year.
Dre'Mont Jones and Harris were the sack leaders on the Broncos last season, so they relied heavily on their interior defenders to get a rush. Even at 32 years old, Hicks can wreak havoc when healthy.
According to Sports Info Solutions, he had 14 total pressures and six tackles for loss in nine games last year. In the loaded AFC West, the Broncos could use all the pass-rush help they can get, and Hicks has the flexibility to provide it from multiple alignments on the inside.
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