The concerns around Braxton Jones aren’t difficult to understand. He’s been a solid starter for the Chicago Bears since they drafted him in 2022. However, two key problems have put them in an awkward position. First is the ankle injury he suffered last year, ending his season early. It appears his recovery process is such that he won’t be ready for the start of training camp. On top of that, 2025 is his last season under contract. That means the Bears face the difficult decision of whether to let him hit free agency or pay him.
The latter option presents a big issue. Offensive tackles have gotten big money lately. Dan Moore Jr. received $20.5 million per year from the Tennessee Titans. Nobody would consider him above an average NFL tackle. That means Jones is almost certain to command as much or more on the market. This is why some believe the Bears should seriously consider seeking alternatives in the NFL draft. However, some interesting comments from new offensive line coach Dan Roushar suggest not to write Jones off yet.
“Braxton has been in that role for the last couple years and the injury was significant. If he were healthy today, he would be our left tackle and we would have confidence in him doing the job. That’s going to be a little bit of a process for his recovery but if nothing changed, I would see Braxton being our left tackle at the moment.”
Roushar is no stranger to somebody like Braxton Jones.
He has coached that type of tackle before. During his time in New Orleans, he worked with left tackle Terron Armstead. Like Jones, he had a reputation for being a great athlete, with questions about his ability to anchor against power at the professional level. He was solid through his first three years with the team. When Roushar took over in 2016, he began ascending. By 2018, he made the first of three straight Pro Bowls under the coach’s watch. If Armstead could accomplish that, there is no reason to think Braxton Jones can’t. At least that is what Roushar might be thinking. The key is getting him healthy and under a better work regimen than what he experienced the past few years with Chris Morgan.
Barry is correct. The ONLY Top 25 OT in this year’s Draft with ideal length is Charles Grant with 34.5” arms.
But ALL PROS Joe Thomas, Jason Peters, and Penei Sewell had sub-34 inch arms.
Poles found a more than capable Jones in later rounds. But healing and coming back 100% from a broken ankle is a concern. Besides, look at the depth chart. Wright doesn’t have a backup. So draft an OT with one of first 3 selections.
Nuance: Nobody (serious) is asking our faux-GM Johnson to draft an “alternative” to Jones. There isn’t a day-one starter at LT available who 1) has prototypical size, and 2) isn’t coming off an injury. Plenty of people (me, many others) are asking our faux-GM to draft a succession plan. I have no real problem with BJ doing that at 1.10, and I think it would be a very good plan after a trade-down. But my point is that Jones is 2025 the starter at LT as long as he’s healthy. He graded out very well last year (20th out of… Read more »
@Dr. Melhus —
I agree with you, 100%.
I would have loved to have seen Teven Jenkins, Larry Borom and even Matt Pryor under the clearly elevated tutelage of Dan Roushar.
But (IMO) Poles simply could not allow that — for fear of exposure.
I guess we don’t know what we don’t know. But at least we know we don’t know.
Poles’ impetuous nature spurred him to draft an injured Kiran to replace Jones. How do we know if Roushar is not being deceptive about his support for Jones to decoy Bears picks in the draft.