As the Chicago Bears are progressing this season, they are watching for particular players who can establish themselves as core pieces. For the Bears, they are mainly looking at rookies from the last two draft classes to be those players. Some players have shown signs of progress and look like core pieces, while others have failed to make that step.

These three players may be the most concerning.

The Chicago Bears’ early third-round pick has almost been a forgotten player at this point of his rookie season. Zacch Pickens has logged just about 24% of the defensive snaps of this season. While he did just play a career-high 31% on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, he had not been showing consistent progression in his playing time before that.

Pickens has just 0.5 sacks and six pressures on the season. His pass rush win rate is 5.8%, which is well below average. For comparison, Gervon Dexter is at 12.7%. Among 12 interior defensive linemen who are rookies and have played over 100 snaps, he ranks 10th in pass rush win rate and 11th in pressures.

He has a 6.2% run stop rate, which ranks sixth of those qualified rookies, and it is higher than Dexter at 4.5%. However, Pickens has just six run stops. For comparison, Kobie Turner has 22.

The issue with Pickens is that he was supposed to be more pro-ready between himself and Dexter. Pickens did not have the upside from physical traits that Dexter does, but he played more snaps and had more work to get into the lineup right away. From the second they stepped on the field Dexter has been better and Pickens has struggled to keep up.

The Chicago Bears will hope for a stronger year two, but they cannot bank on it.