The Fight for the Left Tackle Position in the Chicago Bears
After 17 training practices, the Chicago Bears still haven’t defined who will be the starting left tackle to protect Caleb Williams, their new quarterback. The competition for this key position has dominated the preseason in Chicago, starting with a battle between Braxton Jones, the previous season’s starter; rookie Ozzy Trapilo; and Kiran Amegadjie, selected in the third round of the 2024 draft. This week, Theo Benedet, who was on the Bears’ practice squad in 2024, joined the competition and got reps with the first team for three consecutive practices.The Bears held a 135-minute practice on Friday with the Buffalo Bills, in preparation for Sunday’s game at Soldier Field. Johnson indicated that this joint session and the second preseason game will help define the starting left tackle before the start of the regular season against Minnesota on September 8th. However, Johnson did not rule out the possibility of making changes even after the season begins. Benedet has been the starter at the left tackle position for three consecutive days, while Jones has had his first repetitions with the starters in a red zone session. Benedet also played in the position during the two-minute drill and started the last period of ball movement before being replaced by Jones after four plays. Benedet has taken the majority of his repetitions with the first-team offense in the Bears’ last three practices, after having played 32 plays as a right tackle and 13 as a left tackle in the 24-24 tie against Miami on Sunday. Jones, selected in the fifth round of the 2022 draft, arrived at training camp with 40 starts at left tackle in three seasons. However, he had to catch up after missing all spring practices due to a broken ankle suffered in December.“We will go as far as we need to go to find the right man,” said coach Ben Johnson. “But we would like to see someone make it clear that he is that man, and we haven’t seen that as personnel yet. There have been too many ups and downs.”
Ben Johnson
Meanwhile, Trapilo, selected at pick 56, has been in the mix for the left tackle position since spring. Although Trapilo started 10 games at left tackle in 2022, most of his experience came at right tackle (24 starts from 2023-24), having his best season in 2023, allowing one sack and a 2.1% pressure rate.
This week, the Bears moved Trapilo back to right tackle with the second-team unit, hoping to train him at both positions. Johnson said the main focus for improvement with Trapilo is the speed of his game. The fourth member in the competition for the left tackle position is Amegadjie, who missed five practices and the Bears’ first preseason game due to a leg injury. He returned to practice on Monday, but has only had repetitions with the reserve units. Despite the rotations that will be made in Sunday’s game, Johnson doesn’t want the left tackle position to be a revolving door during the regular season.“This is not going to be a revolving door,” Johnson said. “That’s not what we want. We want a man to stand out clearly and say this is his job.”
Ben Johnson
