The Chicago Bears got great early returns on their first two picks of the draft this summer. Both Colston Loveland and Luther Burden looked terrific in the preseason. Each is expected to contribute in a meaningful fashion right away. However, things get murkier with the two picks after them. Defensive linemen Shemar Turner missed a large portion of training camp with an injury. He’ll be brought along slowly. The bigger mystery (and disappointment for many) is Ozzy Trapilo.
When the Bears selected the big tackle out of Boston College, hopes were high that he could challenge for the starting left tackle job. Things started well in camp. He looked composed and sharp. However, at some point, he hit a wall. Progress wasn’t being made. Rather than push things further, head coach Ben Johnson opted to move him back to right tackle for the time being. Some are already calling it a wasted pick. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune shed some light on the situation. From his vantage point, the Bears’ plans for Trapilo were not about this season.
They have long-term hopes for him.
My guess is most of the folks confused by this situation come from the group that assumed Trapilo would emerge as the starting left tackle. That’s a really difficult adjustment to switch from playing right tackle in college to the left side in the NFL. Trapilo started to struggle while Benedet was coming on, so the coaching staff moved him back to the right side.
This doesn’t mean Trapilo won’t get another look — maybe an extended one — on the left side in the future. We talk at length, especially in Chicago, about the difficulty of quarterback development in the NFL. It’s a huge challenge to develop offensive linemen, too, especially with rules that limit the number and length of practices that can be conducted in full pads. That’s really the only setting to evaluate offensive linemen with any sort of accuracy.
Considering the immense struggles on the offensive line the Bears have endured the last several seasons, adding depth to this group is a good thing. We can all agree on that, right? Trapilo is what I would consider a depth pick with upside. Where he winds up playing — and I think he’ll eventually get on the field — we’ll see.
Ozzy Trapilo is hardly an isolated case.
Asking a rookie to move from right tackle to left tackle sounds simple, but it’s anything but. Ozzy Trapilo spent most of his football career learning the footwork to play one position. Now he was asked to learn the exact opposite in the span of a few months. Believe it or not, most rookies couldn’t handle that. The Bears could’ve forced the issues. Instead, they knew they didn’t have to. They still have Braxton Jones, an established starter on the team. Darnell Wright is set at right tackle. They can afford to bring Trapilo along at a steadier pace. This camp was not a waste. The Bears got a good sense of where the young tackle is in his development. Now they can put a plan in place to help him reach the next level.
