When talking about the Chicago Bears draft class, most of the attention is on Justin Fields. Hardly a shock. He’s the shiny new quarterback and the next great hope for the franchise. After that, eyes tend to turn towards 2nd round pick Teven Jenkins with some sideways glances on interesting names like Thomas Graham Jr. and Khalil Herbert. All players have a decent chance to make early contributions to this team.
There is one though that hasn’t gotten a lot of buzz. One that the coaching staff is apparently quite high on. Albert Breer of the MMQB has strong connections to the Bears and had a recent visit to camp. He came away with some interesting nuggets. Among them being Cole Kmet’s improved suddenness as a route runner and David Montgomery’s evolving leadership. Yet the most interesting may have been the mention of Larry Borom.
3) Kyle Fuller's absence means CB is a spot to 👀. Bears believe Jaylon Johnson can be a 1. Kindle Vildor and Desmond Trufant could loom large.
4) LT's another 1. Teven Jenkins is in the mix there. But another rookie bears watching: Larry Borom has lost 45 lbs since last season.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) July 31, 2021
One can be forgiven for overlooking Borom.
Not only was he taken in the 5th round, but he was also the second-straight tackle the Bears selected. So he was immediately in the shadow of Jenkins. Throw in the fact he played on a rather bad Missouri team and that completed the trifecta. Yet from the way Borom himself talks? He thinks a lot of people are going to be surprised by what he brings to the table. Breer seems to indicate the coaching staff agrees.
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A source reached out to me and further confirmed this. Matt Nagy and his staff have high expectations for Borom. So much that they view him as their right tackle of the future. Rather surprising given where he was selected.
Chicago Bears have gotten him extra work too
The tackle position is already dealing with some health setbacks to start training camp. Jenkins has missed multiple days with back tightness. Germain Ifedi has a hip flexor from the conditioning test. This has left both out of action for the past few days. While that is unfortunate, it is a blessing in disguise for somebody like Borom. This gives him valuable extra snaps in practice against that Bears defense.
One curiosity though is the lineup choice. With Jenkins and Ifedi out, the tackle tandem they’ve rolled out with the first-team offense include recent addition Elijah Wilkinson at left tackle and Lachavious Simmons at right tackle. That is puzzling. Simmons was the Chicago Bears’ 7th round pick in 2020. He’d spent the entire year on the practice squad. Why play him in that spot if you have such high expectations for Borom?
Perhaps to get him acquainted with Justin Fields, who runs the second team.
There are other theories. Either way, the rookie tackle figures big into the Bears’ long-term plans. They feel if that they can get his conditioning right and clear up the technique issues that he’ll be a bookend for them. This would be quite a story. Just imagine if this team secured their quarterback and both starting tackles of the future all in the same draft. That is something that just doesn’t happen in the NFL.