Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles has taken drastic measures to bring new head coach Ben Johnson's vision to life. He has drafted skill position talent in Colston Loveland and Luther Burden III, and perhaps most importantly, seriously upgraded the offensive line. Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson and Drew Dalman are locked in to help Darnell Wright protect Caleb Williams, but the left tackle position remains a question mark. That's because Braxton Jones continues to recover from a fractured fibula that ended his season early.
Jones is the one piece of the offensive line that is still up in the air, partly due to his injury and recovery timetable (he's expected to be a limited participant when training camp gets going in July), and partly due to how good the rest of the line looks around him. As recently as last year, Jones was thought to be one of the better pieces of the line. Given that the Bears felt the need to improve every interior line position this offseason though, it's clear that Jones benefited from the backhanded compliment of being one of the best of a bad bunch.
The Bears were thought to be interested in drafting a new tackle with the 10th overall pick in the draft, and Poles fanned those flames by suggesting that Wright could move to left tackle if the Bears were able to get a right tackle that they liked. He of course ended up going with a tight end instead, though nobody can really say what would have happened if Will Campbell or Armand Membou were still on the board.
Drafting Colston Loveland didn't do much to assure Jones of his starter's job, because one round later the Bears selected Boston College tackle Ozzy Trapilo. The 23-year-old is massive at 6-foot-8, and just the kind of lineman that Johnson has shown that he likes in his time with the Detroit Lions.
Trapilo was a three-year starter at BC, where he was known for his penalty-free play. He was flagged just five times over 36 starts, which is surely some of what attracted the Bears to him, especially as Jones has averaged more than a penalty per two starts in this three years in the league.
Obviously, it's easier to block in the ACC than it is in the NFL, but the Bears wouldn't have used a second-round pick on Trapilo if they weren't high on what he could do. Jones, by contrast, was a fifth-round pick in 2022, and to be fair, he's been a true success story since teams rarely get a starting left tackle at that point in the draft.
Is Braxton Jones going to be the Week 1 starter for the Bears?
All signs are pointing to Jones getting Wally Pipped by Trapilo. For those that aren't into baseball, Pipp has become a footnote in history and a great trivia answer because he was the first baseman for the New York Yankees before Lou Gehrig. Pipp asked out of the lineup with a headache, Gehrig took over, and Pipp never got his job back again while Gehrig, who earned the nickname the Iron Horse, went on to set the record for consecutive games played.
If Trapilo shows that he has the goods in training camp while Jones isn't even 100 percent, it's going to put a lot of pressure on the coaching staff to make a difficult decision. The rest of the line, on paper at least, looks fantastic. But a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If the Bears don't think Jones will be able to meet the new standard being set, then that'll be that.
The Bears have already indicated that they'd entertain the notion of moving Wright to left tackle. Maybe they do that to give Trapilo an easier time getting his feet wet in the pros, or maybe they plug him in on the left side and see what he can do.
Jones is entering the final year of his rookie deal. Given that he's only set to make about $3.7 million, it doesn't make sense for the Bears to trade or cut him, so even if he does lose his starting gig, he should still remain on the roster as a depth piece. There's a long way to go until the season begins, but it's possible that his prominent role on this offense is already gone.
We're only a week away from the Chicago Bears and every other NFL team finding out their schedule for the 2025-26 season. This year's Monsters of the Midway will look much different, and Bears fans hope, much better, than the one that finished last season 5-12 and in last place of the NFC North.