Caleb Williams has a new blind side protector coming out of the Bears’ Week 5 bye. Head coach Ben Johnson announced (via The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain) that second-year offensive lineman Theo Benedet will start at left tackle on Monday against the Commanders.
Benedet started at right tackle in Week 4 against the Raiders with Darnell Wright nursing an elbow injury. Partway through the game, Johnson flipped Benedet to left tackle to replace Braxton Jones and inserted rookie Ozzy Trapilo on the right side. Chicago’s offense did not roar to life as Johnson may have hoped, but they were able to hold on for a 25-24 win in Las Vegas.
Benedet apparently performed well enough to hang onto the left tackle job, despite poor grades from Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Jones also dealt with an ankle injury this offseason and may not have gotten all the way back to 100% before the season starter, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Though he has not popped up on the injury report, some rest may still be necessary to get him back to full strength, as his play has taken a hit relative to previous seasons.
In the meantime, the Bears will move forward with Benedet, who played college football in Canada for the University of British Columbia before arriving in Chicago as an undrafted free agent in 2024. He spent his first season on the practice squad and emerged as a surprising factor in the Bears’ left tackle competition during training camp this past summer.
It will be very interesting to see if Jones gets a chance to win his job back, as it is a contract year for the 2022 fifth-round pick. He was a rare Day 3 draftee to start at left tackle as a rookie, but regime change always brings roster turnover. The Bears can hold onto Benedet through the 2027 season, and both Trapilo and Kiran Amegadjie could be long-term options at left tackle. That would make it difficult to justify re-signing Jones after the season, especially if Chicago intends to hang onto Wright, their 2023 first-round pick.
The reason why the bears O line sucks is because they’re trotting 5th rounders and UDFA’s at the tackles. They need Wright back desperately.
LT will be addressed in the offseason. Anytime you get a starting LT in the 5th round it’s a hit even though he’s mediocre at best.
Trapillo held his own in place of Wright against the Raiders. Crosby did not get a sack against either him or Benedet. Wright has been sporadically good. Sporadically good first round picks can be just as bad as a late rounder or UDFA if they don’t perform consistently.
Crosby may not have got a sack but he generally terrorized the Bears all game long.
Yeah Crosby single handedly wrecked the Bears offense the entire 1st half.
It’s a plus, all things considered, but Johnson’s gripe (that was left unsaid, I’d imagine) is probably that he had to adjust his play calling to compensate for the protection flaws. I doubt that this is something that Chicago can fix midyear, but the upside is that the playcalling coach can recognize the issue and adjust enough yo attempt to compensate.
It does create a semi-positive, though, in that Jones might be a trade piece. He’s not been what the Bears wanted right now, but even in that light, teams will pay for a former starter as injuries pile up during the season. If the Bears are truly done with him, they might be able to flip Jones by the deadline if he’s out of the starting lineup.
The O line is always the last unit to come together because it depends on everyone trusting the people they play with and the linemen trusting where the QB is going to be. Fields never got that. You can’t change 3 out of 5 guys and expect them to function like they’ve played together forever. And it makes no difference where you’re drafted or not drafted either. The All Pro teams are filled with guys who were weren’t drafted. I think the Bears best OL will eventually be Trapillo and Wright at T and Thuney and Newman at the G’s and Dalman at C. But it’s not gonna happen overnight. And the running game is always the last thing to come together not that I think Swift is any kind of long term answer. The long term answer isn’t here yet and the morons that say the Bears will panic and trade 3 draft picks for Achane have no clue. Are the Bears going to turn into a running game juggernaut this year? Absolutely not but they should be able to be reliable at least this year. It’s just year one everybody, Relax. It’s a work in progress. We finally have a GM and Coach working together. It’ll be OK I promise.
Uncle, I haven’t heard anything about 3 draft picks for Achane. That’s way over the top. He may hit free agency after the season. The last rumor was a 3rd rounder. Looking at Pole’s draft history that’s reasonable.
Everyone knew the Bears needed a real LT, but somehow at pick #10, the GM decided TE was the best choice and somehow KC gets at pick #32… SMH.
It’s my understanding from various media outlets around Chicago that drafting TE Loveland was a Ben Johnson decision. Johnson also pushed for the trade of guard Jonah Jackson. Both players have not yet provided positive results. But it’s still early.
TE is one of the hardest non-QB positions to learn. Jury is still out but still a head scratcher as to why, when they had much bigger needs.
The Bears front office seems fixated on arm length, height and overall athletic profile when it comes to tackles. Josh Connery was there there for taking but didnt feel he was worth a number 10 and didnt fit their athletic profile. So was Simmons but the Bears were uneasy about that 10th spot as well as his injury history. Instead they took TE Loveland who also had an injury history. It’s the Bears. Still a bit early to tell how things will pan out. But ultimately I agree there were more pressing needs.
Loveland could turn out to be a Pro bowl TE, and it would still be dumb decision to take a TE in the top 10 of any draft, when a LT was available and it was a team need… QB, LT, RT and DE should be set before even considering TE.
Braxton Jones is as good as gone next season in free agency. He might not be guaranteed a starting spot, but I bet somebody signs him somewhere in the one year, $10 million range. If Dan Moore jr. got $20 million per year, Jones can get half of that amount.
Jones is pretty good for a 5th round. I agree. Someone will sign him. He’d be an ideal back up/swing player. He held it down the best he could. A key point is Jones wasn’t exactly surrounded by overall O -Line talent during his Bears tenure. Now, this season appears to be more fundamentally sound. Not making more excuses for Jones but it’s likely the leg fracture he had last season may not be fully healed. Possibly it is physically, but the mental side may worry Jones. Everyone heals and overcomes an injury differently. Amegadjie, who is a 3rd rounder has not been healthy since his junior year in college. Another player drafted by Poles with an injury history. At least Jones has outplayed him.
Never really understood all the focus on the combine and all the 40 times and the measurements. All I care about is whether a guy can play football or not. I really didn’t get why they took a TE, But then they took the wrong TE on top of it. I thought they might deal Kmet and repurpose that money but they didn’t do that either. Jackson looks bad already. They did get 2 good OL in this draft anyway and Benedet looks like a keeper. I think Newman is ticketed for RG and Trapillo is either a swing tackle or LT at the very least. But the OL is always the hardest thing to come together and it will be OK like I said. Who knows, Maybe even Jackson plays better. The dumbest thing they can do is start trading draft picks for players this year. Stay the course, Add more pieces in April and next year should be a hoot. Most of the hard work is done. Edge, RB and S biggest needs for next year. If anything they should try and add more draft picks this year.