The Chicago Bears haven’t found true stability at left tackle in a long time. There have been occasional stretches of steadiness over the years. Charles Leno Jr. handled it for a while. Jermon Bushrod and John Tait had a few good seasons. Andy Heck held it down for the second half of the 1990s. In truth, the team hasn’t produced a true anchor at the position since Jimbo Covert retired. That search has continued. Braxton Jones is hanging onto it for the time being, but he’s under greater threat than ever before thanks to the arrival of Ozzy Trapilo.
Last year, Jones’ tibia injury opened the door for the Bears to seek insurance. They can’t be sure when he’ll be ready to play. Until then, they had to find options at left tackle. Trapilo was an interesting choice. He’d spent most of his Boston College career at right tackle. Making the transition to the left side is difficult. Trapilo said he’d been preparing for that possibility going back to last year. His confidence remains strong that he can compete for that starting job. Where does it come from?
He explained to Cassie Carlson of WGN News.
Ozzy Trapilo is right to feel this way.
Matt Applebaum isn’t your typical college offensive line coach. Unlike others, he actually spent some time in the NFL, including a year with the Miami Dolphins in 2022. That is before you get to head coach Bill O’Brien, who was a pro head coach in Houston. These guys know what is required for a guy to perform like a professional. It makes sense they’d educate their players as such. It isn’t a coincidence that the program has been churning out quality blockers over the past few years, like Chris Lindstrom and Zion Johnson. Ozzy Trapilo comes from that same factory. He has the size and athleticism for the NFL. All he needed was the proper guidance. It sounds like he was well-prepared for the challenge.
It’s just nice to know that there is competency in the coaches. The previous offensive line coach was a dumpster fire. Again, I know I sound like a broken record, but when you have 2 offensive linemen blocking each other something is terribly wrong. Then you have to look at the last things Poles addressed during the rebuild was the lines. So basically, the Bears went 5-12 with incompetent coaches and subpar lines with no depth and a nonexistent head coach.
If he is the LT backup or Jones is the LT backup, atleast Borom is not.
He will start for them sooner or later this year.
This article is the first I have seen mentioning Braxton Jones having a tibia fracture. Everything else to date has mentioned a fibula fracture, which is a shorter recovery time in most cases.
I repeat: if he starts, Ozzy is the key for me to move the Bears’ actual draft selections from a C+ to a B grade. Still, did not care for the trades and some other lower selections.