For the past three weeks, the Chicago Bears‘ left tackle competition seemed relatively clear. It was mostly a three-way battle between Braxton Jones, former 3rd round pick Kiran Amegadjie, and former Browns top 10 pick Jedrick Wills. After Jones suffered a knee injury just over a week ago, Wills and Amegadjie suddenly had a golden opportunity in the preseason opener to seize control. If one of them could put up a strong showing, they might overtake Jones as the leading candidate for the job.
It didn’t go well. Amegadjie started the game, but allowed three pressures in 24 snaps. Wills wasn’t much better. He only allowed one pressure, but it was an ugly sack in which a backup edge rusher blew right past him. They were equally dismal in the ground game. Apparently, that performance was all head coach Ben Johnson needed to see. He revealed on Tuesday that significant changes were coming to the tackle spots. Jones would get starter reps now that he is back. Theo Benedet, who’d been unmentioned for weeks, is now firmly in the mix. Amegadjie and Wills? They’ve been banished to logging reps at right tackle.
This pivot by the Chicago Bears isn’t surprising.
Something similar happened last year. The left tackle competition looked like it was going a certain way, with Jones and Ozzy Trapilo the primary competitors. Then the rookie was shifted back to right tackle after the preseason opener. Coaches felt he wasn’t ready yet. Jones continued forward against Benedet, eventually claiming the starting job. Is history repeating itself? It looks that way. Wills and Amegadjie blew their best opportunity. Benedet isn’t likely to make up enough ground to catch Jones unless the latter gets hurt again.
Much of this depends on Trapilo’s health status. The former 2nd round pick tore his patellar tendon in January. Projections had him out at least until midseason and probably longer. So you can imagine the shock when he was activated off the PUP list and resumed practicing this week. That gives him a solid month of work to get his body and confidence ready. If he progresses as coaches hope, he could reclaim his starting job on opening day. If it takes some time, Jones is now the heavy favorite.
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One thing hasn’t changed.
That is Coach Johnson’s high standards for the position. Other coaches might’ve just looked at their options and picked the one they feel has the best chance to grow into a front-line starter. Johnson won’t do that. The Chicago Bears head coach has high standards for that position and will not make such a critical decision on a whim. He wants somebody to step up and seize it. Otherwise, don’t expect to hold the job long. If there is one takeaway from the past year, it’s that Johnson won’t rest until he’s found his guy.
It looked like Trapilo was securing that spot before he got hurt. There are reasons to think it is still his for the taking. However, if he struggles this season whenever he returns, it might compel the Bears to stop dance around the problem. They will go into 2027 fully intent on locking that position down, be it through free agency or, more likely, the 1st round of the draft.
