The Chicago Bears have a crisis on their offensive line. Stop if you heard it before. Three starters out with injuries or COVID-19. Two primary backups out with injuries. It’s a fiasco. Perhaps no spot better exemplifies this than center. Think about this. At the start of 2019, the Bears put James Daniels in that spot. Eight games later after some struggles, they moved Cody Whitehair back there. Then in Los Angeles a few weeks ago, he gets hurt. Former undrafted free agent Sam Mustipher comes in and a week later he gets hurt.
So in Tennessee last week, the Bears were forced to start Alex Bars at center. A position he never once played prior to that day. It’s brutal. Not only that, but some are convinced Whitehair shouldn’t even be starting at center anyway. He’s been struggling even when healthy. Olin Kreutz argued Mustipher is a better option despite being inferior talent-wise.
They desperately need help.
How convenient it might be that the team they’re about to play Monday night might’ve just thrown them a lifeline. With their own offensive line playing well, the Minnesota Vikings didn’t really have a place on the roster for former starter Pat Elflein. So they decided to waive him. A classy move for a guy who has been quite unselfish.
Elflein was drafted in the 3rd round back in 2017. He was the Rimington Award winner for the best center in college football out of Ohio State. He started at that spot as a rookie and the team went to the NFC Championship. However, by 2019 the Vikings decided to change things up. He was moved to left guard in favor of new 1st round pick Garrett Bradbury. A year after that Elflein again was moved, this time to right guard. That was when he suffered a thumb injury that landed him on IR.
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Source: The #Vikings have released G Pat Elflein. The veteran now goes on waivers. Just off IR, he’s healthy now and this gives him the opportunity to get some real playing time elsewhere.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 14, 2020
This is a rep here from Elflein.
Establishes first meaningful contact with his inside hand, then executes a sideways snatch/trap to break contact that spins Onyemata around before finishing him to the ground.
Pass pro isn't passive pic.twitter.com/frafhsXSi1
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) August 12, 2019
Teach tape by Elflein here on releasing flat and wrapping around the LB in space on the RB swing pass. Excellent angle to cut-off pursuit and spring Cook. This is what he does best: pic.twitter.com/Ov1UgN0uJA
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) November 28, 2018
An example of why #Vikings LG Pat Elflein (#65) is ranked as a top-10 player at his position by @PFF. pic.twitter.com/ve9Uk4pVWV
— Sean Borman (@SeanBormanNFL) November 12, 2019
Chicago Bears can immediately play Elflein at his original spot
What does the guy have to offer. Elfein is an athlete. He can get out and move especially on screens. Something the Bears have failed miserably at all season. He also brings an element of nastiness to the table. Especially in the run game. That is where his biggest strength lay. The guy shows the capability to drive defenders off their spots and give his running backs some room to maneuver.
When it comes to playing center itself? Elflein isn’t a guy who will be caught off guard by much. He has his head on a swivel and sees what the defense is trying to do from one play to the next. Blitzes aren’t going to affect him much. Another thing the Bears have struggled with. Nobody is saying this guy is great but he’s certainly a guy who can help this team.
Put him at center and shift Whitehair to guard.
Both men are solid run blockers. Perhaps that might finally help to get the ground game going. He’s only 26-years old. Entering his prime. The kid has shown he can play in this league. What happened in Minnesota doesn’t automatically mean he’s a hack. He just wasn’t a fit for what the Vikings wanted to do anymore. The Chicago Bears should look to take advantage.
