Examining the Chicago Bears’ offensive line following OTAs

The Bears’ offseason program is officially over. Players went through their first organized team activities and mandatory minicamp under new head coach Ben Johnson and his staff and are now off for the next month until they reconvene for training camp in July.

There are plenty of questions surrounding the team as it tries to right the ship after a 5-12 season last year. But for the first time in a while, not many involve the Bears’ offensive line.

What a difference a year makes.

Bears general manager Ryan Poles dedicated a major portion of his offseason to revamping his offensive line after it allowed quarterback Caleb Williams to be sacked a team-record 68 times last season. Poles signed center Drew Dalman in free agency and traded for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson.

It’s hard to get a full understanding of how offensive and defensive lines will play based on OTAs and minicamp practices. Players don’t have their pads on and aren’t allowed to go at each other or the quarterback at full speed.

But there were a few interesting tidbits to come out of the spring. Here are three of them.

The battle at left tackle is on

Although Johnson said that there’s no depth chart during the spring, it’s safe to say that four of the starting spots on the offensive line are set. The one question remains at left tackle.

Starter Braxton Jones has missed offseason practices as he recovers from a late-season ankle surgery and is likely to return during training camp. Second-round draft pick Ozzy Trapilo and last year’s third-round pick, Kiran Amegadjie, split snaps with the first-team offense throughout the spring.

Johnson said it was hard to make any conclusions at the position without the pads on. But he thought Trapilo and Amegadjie made the most of their opportunities.

“The cool thing to see is [Trapilo], for a guy that’s a young player, he’s really polished in terms of the mental aspect of the game,” Johnson said. “We’re looking to key up some things, quicken up his steps, his identification process. And [Amegadjie’s] done a nice job just for the little bit that we’ve had him, as well, just the growth prospects, so far so good.”

How the competition will look when the Bears start training camp next month remains to be seen. Jones will likely get the first crack at snaps with the first team if he’s healthy as the returning starter. He has started 40 games at the position over three seasons with both highs and lows.

But Johnson will want to see what he has at the position and will give Trapilo and Amegadjie a chance to get some snaps, as well. The trio has enjoyed the competition with each other.

“They’re both fantastic guys,” Trapilo said of Amegadjie and Jones. “Very helpful. All the guys, the whole O-line is really incredible. Coming in you don’t know how it’s going to be. Everyone is such a good guy. You have a question, they’ll go out of their way to help you from top to bottom. I know that’s for the entire room, as well as the tackle position. So I’ve been really happy about that.”

Wright staying at right, for now

Poles raised some eyebrows during the offseason when he didn’t rule out that right tackle Darnell Wright could be in the running for the left tackle spot. He made the comment before the Bears selected Trapilo in this year’s draft.

Johnson didn’t quash the proposition during OTAs when asked if Wright was locked in at right tackle.

“To be determined,” Johnson said. “Anything’s on the table. We’re going to let the plan play out, which is keep him there for the time being and let these guys battle it out on the left side. We can decide to change course whenever we need to.”

Wright has been the Bears’ starter at right tackle since the team selected him at No. 10 overall in 2023. He had some experience playing both tackle positions at the University of Tennessee but mostly impressed from the right side. Over two seasons, Wright started all 33 of the Bears’ games and has protected the right side at a consistent level.

But if the first few weeks of training camp don’t produce what Johnson wants at the spot, Wright could be an option at left and Trapilo could shift to right tackle, which he played at Boston College.

“The No. 1 job of an offensive tackle, doesn’t matter right or left, is to pass protect,” Johnson said. “And so you need to be able to block their best pass rusher one-on-one. To me, that’s the No. 1 job, and everything we can get out of them in the run game will be gravy on top of it. But we got to find out who the best pass protector is, the most consistent pass protector is, and really that’s for all five guys up front.”

Rest of line jelling

With only one starting spot up in the air this spring, the Bears’ offensive line starters have had the benefit of consistently playing together during the spring. That will be important as Thuney, Dalman, Jackson and Wright not only learn how to play with each other but also with Williams.

“We feel good about the rest of them jelling together, and that’s really what it comes down to is they have to spend time as a unit over and over and over again,” Johnson said. “Game 1, we’re going to be far from a finished product, and hopefully by the time we get through the bye week, we’ll start [to see] some of these guys come together and really jell as a unit.”

While it is nice to have most of a starting set ready to go, Johnson knows that he’s not only going to rely on five offensive linemen throughout the season. Injuries happen throughout the season, and different linemen will have to step up at different spots.

Johnson’s staff has spent the offseason coaching up everyone on the O-line on the new offense so they’re ready when their number is called.

“We have to coach them all the same right now,” Johnson said. “So it’s not like we could just concentrate on one spot and that battle, it’s really the whole unit and the depth behind it, as well. We’ve talked about I think consistently through the spring time, eight, nine, even 10 linemen are going to be called upon at some point this year.”