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This offseason, the Chicago Bears poured a ton of resources into remaking their offensive line.
They started things off by trading for former Chiefs guard Joe Thuney and former Rams guard Jonah Jackson the day before free agency opened. About 24 hours later, they gave Jackson a one-year contract extension and signed former Falcons center Drew Dalman. Just like that, things were already much different. But they didn't stop there. They drafted tackle Ozzy Trapilo out of Boston College in the second round and guard Luke Newman out of Michigan State in the sixth.
On Tuesday, they topped things off by giving Thuney an extension that makes him (again) one of the highest-paid guards in the league.
It makes a lot of sense that the Bears put so much effort into this overhaul. Their offensive line was really, really bad last year. They checked in 24th in Pro Football Focus' season-ending offensive-line rankings, but even that doesn't really do justice to what a struggle it was for the Bears up front.
They got borderline elite level play from right tackle Darnell Wright, but just about everywhere else on the line, it was a pretty significant struggle. They used seven different starting lineups. Both Braxton Jones and Teven Jenkins missed time due to injuries. Nate Davis, who was a big-ticket free-agent signing prior to the 2023 season, was released and replaced by Matt Pryor. Coleman Shelton was ... not good. The Bears started three different players at left tackle at one time or another, and while Jones acquitted himself fairly well, Larry Borom and Kiran Amegadjie did not. And the interior, in particular, was a mess all year long.
As a result, the Bears gave up a ton of pressure and a ton of sacks. Some of that is on Caleb Williams for holding the ball too long and not making quick enough decisions, but the Bears also yielded quick pressure at among the fastest rates in the league, according to NFL Pro. They were also among the worst teams in the league at generating yards before contact, according to Tru Media, with their running backs gaining just 1.18 yards per rush before being hit. They also could not run the ball into heavy boxes for the life of them, checking in fifth-worst in the league with a 2.4 yards-per-carry average with eight men in the box.
In theory, that should change this year. Their interior trio of Thuney, Dalman and Jackson should be one of the best, instead of one of the worst. Wright is still locked in on the right side, and rather than being the unquestioned starter protecting Williams' blind side, Jones will have competition from Trapilo, and presumably, whichever guy performs better this offseason will get the job.
If it all comes together how the Bears envision it doing so, they can more reasonably replicate the formula that new head coach Ben Johnson developed during his time with the Detroit Lions. The Bears presumably won't have the best line in the league like those Lions did, but they weren't going to be able to do anything Johnson wanted to do if they didn't make significant changes this offseason. They did make those changes, though, and now things have a chance to be much different for them than they were a year ago.
