The odds of everybody being happy with what the Chicago Bears did the past two months was close to impossible. GM Ryan Pace didn’t have a lot of money to spend and no 1st round pick in the draft. So that made it challenging to make any “splash” moves that might move the needle enough in people’s minds to improve this 8-8 team back into a possible contender. All things considered though, Pace accomplished most of his objectives.
He found competition for Mitch Trubisky at quarterback in Nick Foles. The pass rush was upgraded with the signing of Robert Quinn. Tight end saw a complete overhaul with the arrivals of Jimmy Graham and Cole Kmet. More speed came to the receiver position with Ted Ginn Jr. and Darnell Mooney. Even Jaylon Johnson and Tashaun Gipson plugged significant voids in the secondary.
However, the football analytics guys at Football Outsiders don’t believe they did enough. In an ESPN article, they detailed how big of a mistake Pace made no properly addressing the offensive line.
“Chicago didn’t address its offensive line until Round 7, drafting Colorado’s Arlington Hambright and Tennessee State’s Lachavious Simmons with its final two picks. Neither is likely to make a significant impact in 2020. Hambright will likely shift from tackle to guard, and Simmons is a multiyear project who will probably spend at least 2020 on the practice squad.
The Bears’ offensive line was charted with 124 blown blocks last season by Sports Info Solutions and has ranked 28th and 29th in adjusted line yards the past two seasons. Chicago will have to count on new line coach Juan Castillo to get more out of the talent already there than has been shown the past couple of seasons.”
Chicago Bears placing a ton of faith in Juan Castillo
As things stand, it’s hard to argue against this. The Bears struggled in most facets of blocking last season. Especially in the ground game where they ranked 27th in the league. It was a huge reason Trubisky fell apart. Lots of people were urging Pace to be aggressive in finding help, particularly at right guard where Kyle Long had just retired. His response was, shall we say, lukewarm.
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His most notable addition is former 1st round pick Germain Ifedi who’d spent four rocky seasons as a tackle in Seattle. He’ll be moving to guard in hopes that might unlock his potential. Together with the two 7th round picks and fellow free agent Jason Spriggs, the Bears’ offensive line moves can best be summed up as “bargain shopping.” It heavily implies the team is trusting new offensive line coach Juan Castillo can get more out of them than his predecessor Harry Hiestand did.
That is a pretty big gamble by Pace and head coach Matt Nagy. There is still time for them to make another move, but not many good options remain.