The central focus of the Chicago Bears training camp has been two-fold. One is the quarterback, because obviously. Justin Fields is the new kid on the block and brings loads of hype with him. Andy Dalton is the savvy veteran who might be the most efficient they’ve had in a long time. After that? It’s been all about the offensive line, and not in the good way as the Bears have endured a string of unfortunate injuries across that position.
Three starters in Teven Jenkins, Germain Ifedi, and James Daniels remain out. While some teams might’ve panicked at something like this and gone shopping for help? The Bears haven’t. They’ve taken a different outlook. That it is a perfect opportunity for other players on the roster to get some highly valuable reps. One that hasn’t gotten nearly enough attention according to offensive line coach Juan Castillo is Lachavious Simmons.
Remember him?
The Bears drafted him in the 7th round last year out of Tennessee State. Initial impressions of him from experts were a decent athlete with size and long arms who was at his best in pass protection. His issues tended to surface whenever power or technique was required. Something that is typical of blockers from smaller programs. Simmons weighed about 290 lbs when he arrived in Chicago. The Bears now list him at 315. It appears that has served him quite well in camp thus far as Adam Jahns of The Athletic reported Castillo saying.
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“It’s really nice because he’s going against Khalil Mack, and you really haven’t heard too much. What that tells you is he’s doing a pretty solid job against one of the top outside linebackers in the league.”
Adding further credence to this? The Bears listed Simmons as their starting right tackle on their first depth chart released this week. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s the actual starter. Ifedi is on the PUP list so he doesn’t appear on it. However, it’s a surefire sign that the team is higher on the second-year tackle than people think. Sadly he is dealing with a concussion at the moment. Hopefully, he will return in time for the preseason opener on Saturday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW-0pkQCFzk&ab_channel=ChicagoBears
Chicago Bears have a number of youngsters stepping up
Simmons isn’t the only one. Rookie 5th round pick Larry Borom was getting a ton of praise for his work over the past couple of weeks too. Not just from Castillo but others watching camp as well. They feel he has a genuine chance to battle for the starting left tackle spot. Something nobody expected when he first arrived in April. Sadly, like Simmons, he suffered a concussion that knocked him out of action.
Even so, others continue to step up. Alex Bars remains Mr. Reliable as he shifts from guard to tackle and back again. Proving his incredible value as a utility blocker. It hasn’t been easy going against such a talented defense. Still, the depleted line has managed to hold up enough to allow the quarterback to keep making some nice plays from time to time.
Simmons has been a big part of that.
It’s great to hear that he is making strides with his game. The next step is seeing if he can carry it over into actual games. Don’t forget he like every other Chicago Bears 2020 draft pick didn’t have the benefit of a preseason last year. So this will be his first actual NFL experience. Keep an eye out for #73.