The Chicago Bears are no closer to determining their starting left tackle than they were at the start of training camp. According to head coach Ben Johnson, the competition remains wide open.
Braxton Jones certainly appears to be the front runner ahead of Kiran Amegadjie and Jedrick Wills, although Ozzy Trapilo will certainly factor in when he makes his return. But the ongoing left tackle battle will have a lot of ramifications for this season including for left guard Joe Thuney, who will be working right next to whoever becomes the Bears’ starter.
"I think Joe would like some clarity on who he can build a rapport with," Johnson. "It’s been a little bit of a revolving door. He’s a pro’s pro and he’s willing to do everything, but you want five guys playing as one. So we’ll go as long as we need to figure out who those five are, but at the same time, the sooner we can make that decision, the sooner they can gel as a unit as well."
Last season, everyone on the offensive line was new with the exception of right tackle Darnell Wright. It took some time for the line to gel. There started to be some cohesion during Chicago’s third game of the season against the Dallas Cowboys, where quarterback Caleb Williams had his first career game without getting sacked.
The offensive line really started to click after the bye week and, in the final three weeks of the regular season, the line only allowed Williams to get sacked once. This is part of why it is important for the Bears to establish who the starting left tackle is going to be.
"You saw it last year. It took us through the bye week before we really started clicking a little bit as an offensive line and the run game coming alive the way we wanted it to," Johnson said. "I think [Thuney’s] doing a great job right now. The communication’s a huge piece of it. With Garrett [Bradbury] at center, I don’t have a whole lot of concern from the communication piece and yet the sooner we can be the same page without even saying anything the better off we’re going to be."
Unlike last season, this offensive line unit is not starting from scratch. Thuney, right guard Jonah Jackson and Wright all played together last season, and Thuney actually has some experience with Bradbury dating back to college. Jones started last year at left tackle before eventually being replaced by Trapilo.
Nonetheless, it will be important for Chicago to establish their starting five soon so there is clarity regarding who will be on the line going into the first game of the season.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Ben Johnson on how Bears left tackle battle is impacting O-line
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