The Chicago Bears offensive line is catching heat from every angle this offseason. It shouldn’t be a huge surprise. That tends to happen when a group gives up 58 sacks in a season. Making matters worse is the fact they lost one of their better linemen to free agency in James Daniels. Lucas Patrick was their only notable addition with a proven track record during the spring. He’ll take over at center. Cody Whitehair remains at left guard. As for the other three spots, nobody knows how they’ll shake out.
Braxton Jones was elevated to the starting left tackle spot despite being a rookie. Larry Borom shifted to right tackle, and Teven Jenkins got demoted to the second-team offense. The confusion leaves many worried for the safety of Justin Fields. He already took a beating last season. The last thing he needs is to stand behind more bad protection in a critical development year. One person who isn’t concerned about it is former Bears scout Greg Gabriel. Not only does he think the doom and gloom talk is overblown, he thinks the group will be better than many realize. He explained why on the Barroom Network.
Chicago Bears have a far more modern O-line coach.
It isn’t the first time NFL people have called out Juan Castillo for being a highly overrated offensive line coach. He might’ve had success early in his career, but it became apparent over the past decade that his approach was falling behind the times. Tom Thayer said so earlier this offseason. Now Gabriel said the same. He thinks the group is in far better hands with Chris Morgan, Castillo’s replacement. The 14-year veteran is well-thought-of around the NFL, from what he’s heard.
He’s best known for his work in Atlanta, where he developed left tackle Jake Matthews into a Pro Bowler and guided the team to the Super Bowl in 2016. The blocking was excellent during his first three years there but started falling off as the Falcons kept changing offensive coordinators. Morgan knows the system Luke Getsy aims to install, having worked in it during his first two years in Atlanta.
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That experience and knowledge should have the Bears’ offensive line pointed in the right direction.
