The Chicago Bears 2024 offensive line is already of concern and the team isn’t even halfway through training camp.
The Chicago Bears offensive line is already dealing with problems that may affect how good the unit could be for the 2024 season. Three areas of concern have already arisen and there may be signs of a shocking fourth problem emerging at an unexpected position.
Veteran right guard Nate Davis is already missing his second straight practice with a strained muscle. Davis once again became unavailable when the Chicago Bears moved into pads. Davis was out early in Saturday’s second practice in pads and missed all of yesterday and is missing Tuesday as well. He has a history of missing practice from his time in Tennessee. Last he was out due to a legitimate reason, but he seems to have found a way to game the system to missing practice this year.
With Davis out this has thrown the center competition into flux with Ryan Bates moving over to right guard and Connor Shelton manning the starting center spot. If Bates moves to right guard full time the Chicago Bears are already running into depth concerns.
Elsewhere left tackle Braxton Jones is finally back at practice after missing four practices due to an undisclosed injury. Jones is back at full speed but is practicing with a sleeve on his left calf. Jones missed four games a year ago.
The comes the most shocking development of camp, Darnell Wright is struggling and isn’t practicing at the level that would be indicative of him taking the next important step in his development.
“For the third rep, Montez Sweat created instant pressure against Darnell Wright off the right edge, which forced Williams to step up in the pocket. Williams tried completing a pass to Keenan Allen, but the ball fell incomplete. Sweat is becoming a problem in these practices. Maybe ones the pads come on things will begin to even out.”
The reports across the web are Wright can’t handle Sweat off the edge at all. This coincides with a lot of the struggles I saw from Wright a year ago in the games. Wright is an excellent run blocker, but struggles mightily with speed on the edge. He needs to get things figured out in a hurry because he’s supposed to take his game to the next level this year putting him amongst the best tackles in the NFL for 2024.
The most damning report of camp seems to be the constant issues with the cadence causing false starts up front. There have been constant false start penalties plaguing the offensive line to the point it was a problem for two practices in a row. This was also an issue noticed during the limited access at OTAs.
Hopefully very soon the Bears can develop some cohesion with their offensive line. Having four issues of concern this early in camp doesn’t bode well for the overall development of the offensive line as the season gets closer. The most important aspect will be how the offensive line develops to protect Caleb Williams.
Without a cohesive offensive line it could lead to lapses in protection for Williams. Teams will constantly look to exploit the protection with stunts, twists and creative blitzes. These calls and adjustments are typically controlled by the center, and then relayed out to the tackles. From there it’s up to the tackles to work well in space with speed and balance to keep pressure off of Williams.
Add to this Williams fumbling problems that he had while at USC and there’s a legitimate concern to the way things are going.
The good news however is the Chicago Bears still have over 30 practices to get things figured out before their season opener against the Tennessee Titans. With any luck and stability things will be okay by the time the Chicago Bears’ games start to count for real.
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