Windy City Gridiron
Everybody has something on the line at this position.
The first half of our series, Ten Chicago Bears with the most to prove, is in the books. If you haven’t seen the list so far, it’s been as follows:
As we reach number five on the list, I will admit, for the first time, we cheated. We didn’t pick a player or a coach with the most to prove; we chose a position, and by doing so, we’ve lumped three players together.
Is it cheating? Probably. But we cheat for the sake of content. Nobody wants to see a top 10 list with 3 of the 10 players being left tackle, but that’s just how open this position is.
Let’s start with the newcomer, Ozzy Trapilo. Of the three left tackles, he has the least to prove amongst the group simply because he's a rookie. But Trapilo also has a chance to do something impressive: start at left tackle as a rookie.
Trapilo will have plenty of competition at this position, but he will have an opportunity to emerge from the training camp carnage as the team’s starting left tackle. What will play to his benefit is that Braxton Jones will most likely be missing from the beginning of camp.
Jones is still recovering from an ankle injury suffered in late December against the Detroit Lions that required surgery. With Jones absent, someone is going to have to run with the 1s, and there’s a good chance that Trapilo will be that person. He will probably be rotated with Kiran Amegadjie early in camp, but the smart money is that Trapilo will place himself firmly in front of Amegadjie in a short time.
That brings us to the second-year tackle out of Yale. When Amegadjie was selected, a lot of hype surrounded him, but that was largely because Amegadjie was a local product who grew up cheering for the Bears.
Those who had looked at his tape saw a toolsy player, but one that didn’t show well on tape, played against weaker competition in the Ivy League, and was coming off an injury. All signs pointed to a player who was going to be a project and probably needed a full year of practice and development before he saw the field.
But Amegadjie saw the field in December, and the results were disastrous. Now, Amegadjie enters year two with his future a bit uncertain.
Don’t get me wrong, Amedgadjie’s training camp and preseason would have to be disastrous on epic proportions for him to be released from the team in September, but it’s also not out of the realm of possibility.
You can’t take much away from OTAs and minicamp for offensive linemen, but it’s also not positive that no reporters who saw Amegadjie on the field thought he looked particularly good against the Bears' defenders.
Amegadjie has a long way to go, and he’s...
