The Chicago Bears’ offensive line is a work in progress
More sacks (58) were given up last season by the Chicago Bears than any other team in the NFL. National analysts aren’t high on this year’s offensive line group as Pro Football Focus has the Bears ranked near the bottom for their offensive line group.
New general manager Ryan Poles wanted to overhaul the offensive line in 2022. Bears’ offensive linemen have slimmed down and changed faces, but questions remain for the group. Teven Jenkins himself wondered if he’d be as strong or as good as he was before the weight loss program.
Since offseason workouts have started, the Bears have played with the roster. Offensive tackles Jenkins, Larry Borom, and Braxton Jones have been seen practicing on different sides of the offense. Jenkins and Jones have gotten reps with both the first and second-team units. It’s no surprise that fans and media aren’t praising the unit in its current form.
Michael Renner, with Pro Football Focus, ranked the Bears’ offensive line 31st in the NFL heading into 2022.
Here’s what Renner wrote:
While there’s some reason for optimism for Chicago’s two second-year tackles and the leaps they could make, that optimism isn’t based on what they put on tape last year. Larry Borom earned a 61.4 overall grade on 633 snaps, while Teven Jenkins recorded a 47.5 overall grade on 160 snaps. They’ll need to make enormous improvements for this to be an even average tackle duo.
The offensive line and wide receiver group could be a problem for the Chicago Bears
Based on those numbers, it makes sense why Jenkins was at right tackle, and Borom at left. (Much less letting Jones take a crack at starting left tackle.) Currently, the offensive line as a whole looks like something OSHA would flag before letting Justin Fields get behind. No one knows who the true starters are yet, as Cody Whitehair said last week the Bears would play the best five the team had.
The good news for the offensive line is PFF ranks them one spot better than the wide receiver group, as they have the Bears last in that category. Poles and the Bears brass should be ashamed for the current roster they’re asking Fields to go work with. With no one to protect him and no one to throw to, the Bears’ second-year quarterback will have a hard time progressing in the NFL with his second offensive coordinator.
This is the result of Poles drafting the secondary with his top two picks in the second round and having a dud of a free agency. He missed out on offensive tackle Ryan Bates. And the Bears landed no elite talent at wide receiver or offensive line. While many fans support the foundation Poles trying to build, there’s no way they can say he knows how to create better deals for the Bears. He’s failed so far to bring in elite talent.
The biggest name the Bears landed will be Lucas Patrick, rated just 57.2 by PFF. The Bears also brought in Dakota Dozier (his competition for the starting right guard spot will likely be Zachary Thomas, the rookie sixth-round pick transitioning from tackle). I’ll just leave this here:
Now that Dakota Dozier is off the Vikings for good, I’m just reminiscing about the time he helped sack his own QB..
good luck @bears pic.twitter.com/wBPDXZzdQp
— Tanishka🧞♀️ (@taanishkaaa) March 23, 2022
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