Windy City Gridiron
For most of the summer, fans and media made assumptions about the Chicago Bears’ tackles. They assumed Darnell Wright would be starting at right tackle (and they are correct). They thought that Braxton Jones and Ozzy Trapilo would battle it out for the left tackle job, and the loser would become the swing tackle (that is most likely correct).
But the last assumption may not be accurate. Many assumed that Kiran Amegadjie would be the team’s OT4 and would have another year of development, seeing where he stands for the 2026 season, but that may not be accurate.
2024 UDFA Theo Benedet has been making noise in training camp and followed that up with a solid performance in the Bears’ first preseason game against the Miami Dolphins. With all that, the last two practices, we’ve seen Benedet get a run with the 1s in practice while Braxton Jones and Ozzy Trapilo get some time at right tackle with the 2s.
While this is just practice and nothing to overreact to, it is interesting that it’s Benedet and not Amegadjie (who has returned from injury) who is getting time with the 1s. Amegadjie is finding himself with the 3s more often than not.
Not only that, we’ve heard multiple coaches and Ryan Poles single out Benedet in press conferences or interviews, talking about how fantastic he’s been at camp.
This development does potentially show that Benedet has now jumped Amegadjie on the depth chart, which is a dangerous place for Amegadjie to be in because that means his spot on the 53-man roster may no longer be secure.
Why? Let’s take a look.
The Bears will most likely keep nine offensive linemen. They’ll keep their starting 5 and the loser of the Jones/Trapilo competition, that’s six. They need a backup center. That could be Doug Kramer, but it’s most likely Ryan Bates. That’s seven. The eight offensive linemen will be someone who can sub on the interior. That could be rookie Luke Newman. That could be veteran Jordan McFadden. It could even be Doug Kramer. But that gives them eight. The Bears have one spot left on the 53.
Amegadjie vs Benedet may be a battle for the 9th offensive line spot. I’m sure the Bears would like to keep the loser of this competition on their practice squad, but there’s certainly a possibility that another team is going to grab a promising UDFA in Benedet or a 3rd round project in Amegadjie if they hit the waiver wire.
The Bears could try and stash one of them on the injured list with a, ahem, injury. But there is a definite possibility that if Benedet has truly jumped Amedgadjie in the depth chart, that Amegadjie’s career with the Bears may be just two offseasons.
All eyes have been focused on Jones vs Trapilo and for good reason, but this competition has developed recently and has become one to watch.
