When discussing Chicago Bears Organized Team Activities, most of the excitement centers around a few specific names. Justin Fields has looked sharp in throwing drills, demonstrating better accuracy and decision-making than he did last year. D.J. Moore is helping with that. The newly-arrived receiver is already making big catches in every practice. Rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson is also getting lots of love thanks to his standout coverage. While optimism is typical this time of year, the excitement around them seems genuine.
There appears to be another name that isn’t talked about enough, at least according to former Bears coach Dave Wannstedt. He got the chance to visit team practices, where he spoke with Matt Eberflus, Ryan Poles, and the Bears coaching staff while watching drills. Somebody who stood out to him almost immediately that isn’t being talked about was Teven Jenkins. The former 2nd round pick has wasted no time settling in at left guard and is reportedly having a “great” camp thus far. Wannstedt explained on 670 The Score.
The Chicago Bears would love a Jenkins breakout.
He already showed signs of it last season. When healthy and on the field, a case could be made that he was their best offensive lineman. He bullied in the run game and was their most reliable pass blocker. Moving him to left guard was a subtly smart move by the Bears. Not only does it allow Nate Davis to stay at his natural right guard spot, but it also puts the team’s two best run blockers from last year, Jenkins and Braxton Jones, on the same side of the line. History says that should yield positive results.
Talent has never been the problem with Jenkins. Many evaluators said he had 1st round ability coming out of Oklahoma State. His problem has been health. He came into the NFL with a back issue, then suffered a second one as a rookie. Then hip and neck issues last year cost him games as well. All told he has missed 15 games since joining the team in 2021. The Bears need to know if they can trust him for a full season or not. That is why this year is so important. If Jenkins can live up to what Wannstedt sees, he could be a fixture up front for a long time.
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Hope he succeeds. He was the only guy on the OL who stood up for Fields when Nagy put him out there to get killed.
Both @RealOne_DC and @eecummings (as always) have made valid points. ProFootballFocus (PFF) states: “It’s important to understand that PFF is not grading talent in these numbers, rather strictly performance on the field. Talented players can have bad games, runs, or even seasons, and often players without nearly as much talent can put together impressive play on the field. We are not necessarily telling you who the best players are. Our rankings are more of a performance evaluation and a reflection of how efficiently a player made plays in the time he was on the field.” I often refer to these… Read more »
One could argue that every spot on the oline has a very capable person slotted to play. We’ve been waiting forever for a good oline. This might finally be it.
Watch tape and you will love Jenkins.
Borom’s RAS @ OT is a 7.30 (the score listed below is as a G ) , there is a 10 point difference in Overall PFF score and 17 points at Run Blocking between the two and snap count suggests that Borom would have given up 10 sacks if he had started the whole year at RIGHT tackle (presumably more at left). Jones is simply a faster, stronger, more agile player than Borom – and he converted that to better performance… that is what the data says. BTW, I like Borom too. A 65 PFF for what amounts to a… Read more »