One of the keys to the Bears’ turnaround this season has been a return to the basics. They finally invested massive resources into their offensive line and have gotten massive results.
The Bears have the No. 2 rushing offense in the NFL at an average of 153.8 yards heading into their game Sunday at the Packers. Quarterback Caleb Williams has been taking a league-high 3.29 seconds to pass and his sacks have dropped from four to 1.6 per game. Pro Football Focus ranked the line fourth last week, a massive jump from finishing 24th last season.
That’s the caliber of line coach Ben Johnson had powering his offense when he was an assistant with the Lions, and he sought to build something similar in his first offseason with the Bears.
It’s a unit that rarely can be fortified on a tight budget, and after years of piecing it together with cheap free agents and late-round draft picks, general manager Ryan Poles and Johnson spent big on known quantities. The Bears ranked between 19th and 31st in O-line spending during Poles’ first three seasons, but now are sixth at $137.3 million according to Over The Cap.
They landed four-time champion and back-to-back All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney and former Pro Bowl right guard Jonah Jackson in trades in March, then swung big on one of the best and most expensive O-line free agents in former Falcons center Drew Dalman.
It’s been well worth it.
Even as the Bears are on their third starting left tackle — rookie Ozzy Trapilo — their line has created a fortress in the pocket. Thuney and Jackson are tied for 11th in PFF’s guard rankings, Dalman is second among centers and former first-round pick Darnell Wright is 14th at tackle.
If the Bears pick up Wright’s fourth-year option or extend him in the upcoming offseason, all five current starters will be signed through at least 2027.
That’s an enormous asset for Johnson compared to hoping Teven Jenkins could make it through a season, Sam Mustipher could step up or Riley Reiff would have something left.
The Bears likely would’ve hit left tackle higher in the draft if the right opportunity had arisen — the Saints took Texas All-American Kelvin Banks ninth, one spot ahead of the Bears at No. 10 right before the Bears’ pick came up — but Trapilo seems to be progressing.
They took him in the second round out of Boston College at No. 56 overall, and early in the season, Johnson didn’t think he was ready to play and made him inactive. He made his starting debut two weeks ago against the Steelers and Johnson said he was “a big reason why were able to win that game.”
Thanks to stability elsewhere, the Bears have mostly been unfazed by the tumult at left tackle. Braxton Jones won the four-way competition against Theo Benedet, Trapilo and Kiran Amegadjie. Then Johnson benched him in favor of Benedet. Then Trapilo got his shot because Benedet was hurt, and it appears he’ll keep that spot going forward even with Benedet active again.
“He’s an ascending player,” Johnson said. “He’s still developing and he’s going to continue to get better the more reps he has. I feel the same way about Theo. … That’s a good problem to have a number of young options at tackle that are only going to continue to get better.”
The Bears have had the opposite, an actual problem, the last several seasons: Not enough quality options. Through smart spending and substantial development, they’ve flipped a weakness to a strength.
