Windy City Gridiron
Ozzy Trapilo’s season-ending patellar tendon injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Chicago Bears and their offensive line.
The rookie’s solid play had locked down a troublesome position for the Bears opposite All-Pro tackle Darnell Wright, and his loss last weekend against the Green Bay Packers puts Chicago in a rough spot against an aggressive Los Angeles Rams front that features 2024 first-round pick Jared Verse on the edge.
Though undrafted rookie Theo Benedet finished the Bears’ final drive in Trapilo’s place last Saturday, the Bears might be weighing a different starter against the Rams.
According to the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs, Chicago might be “strongly considering” moving left guard Joe Thuney to left tackle, with Jordan McFadden or rookie Luke Newman potentially taking his place at left guard tomorrow evening.
This wouldn’t be the first time Thuney has slid outside to tackle in a time of need, having done so for the Kansas City Chiefs last season. Though he was much less dominant at tackle than guard, giving up his only two sacks of the season as a tackle, he only had two really rough performances: against Myles Garrett and the Cleveland Browns in his first game at tackle (completely understandable), and in the Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles’ stable of elite pass rushers.
The rest of the time, he was plenty serviceable and stabilized the position, which is what Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs needed.
Here’s the calculus the Bears need to figure out: Is it more hazardous to play Benedet or Braxton Jones, who hasn’t played in months, at left tackle next to the dominant left guard Thuney, or kick Thuney outside to tackle and sandwich a backup like McFadden or the largely unproven Newman between Thuney and center Drew Dalman?
That decision is complicated by the fact that Benedet, who performed admirably in relief after Jones’ injury early this season, was ultimately benched in favor of Trapilo and also had a bad game in his Week 18 start against the Detroit Lions.
In short, the Bears are facing something of a no-win situation at a time when they’re just two games away from a possible Super Bowl appearance, and they’re likely going to sacrifice performance at either left guard or tackle no matter what they do. But choosing stability at tackle over dominance at guard might well be the play in this desperate situation, especially if the Bears think they’ve seen enough from Newman to merit a longer look. (They already hit with one rookie offensive lineman; why not another?) In the end, Thuney’s the Bears’ best offensive lineman, and he’s proven he can handle tackle duties even without having much length outside. You trust him to perform wherever you put him.
Regardless of who starts at tackle, though, it’s about to be all hands on deck for the Bears.
