Ryan Poles debunks suspicions on the potential of moving Darnell Wright to LT and gives insight on who will start off at the position
The Chicago Bears made it known going into the 2025 NFL Draft that competition was going to be added at the left tackle position.Given Braxton Jones' injury and Kiran Amegadjie's performance in 2024, the left tackle spot was still easily the biggest concern on the offensive line.Prior to the draft, general manager Ryan Poles was […]
The Chicago Bears made it known going into the 2025 NFL Draft that competition was going to be added at the left tackle position.
Given Braxton Jones' injury and Kiran Amegadjie's performance in 2024, the left tackle spot was still easily the biggest concern on the offensive line.
Prior to the draft, general manager Ryan Poles was asked about the possibility of moving Darnell Wright from right tackle to left tackle, and while he noted Wright has that ability, Poles never definitively answered the question.
Instead, it seemed more like a something that would be in the conversations for how that position will shake out. Following the draft, Poles gave a more clear answer after the selection of second-round rookie offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo.
"I think we want to see what we have in the young rookie with Ozzy, in terms of what that looks like at left [tackle]. We still want to see Braxton return from his injury as well as Kiran," Poles explained via ESPN1000. "So, there's a lot of options, which to me is a huge benefit and a huge improvement for our O-Line, that you have these options."
During his career at Boston College, Trapilo had experience playing in both tackle positions, with right tackle being his final position and strong suit. On the left side in 2022, Trapilo made 10 starts allowing five sacks and 27 total pressures. The desire to start Trapilo on the left side speaks to his potential there and the hopes of keeping things consistent with Wright on the right side.
So, Trapilo will have the leg up out of the gate in the left tackle competition heading into the summer. Jones, the team's starter at left tackle over the last three seasons, will still have the opportunity to earn his position, but he won't be cleared until later in the summer as he continues rehabbing from a serious 2024 leg injury.
“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," offensive line coach Dan Roushar said ahead of the draft. "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.”
Based on those comments, the battle will be between the rookie Trapilo, and the returning starter Jones, once Jones is back on the field. The other caveat here is that Jones will be entering into the final year of his contract in 2025.
However things shake out in the end, the Bears don't plan to alter the plans once the desired starting five is set.
"I think the one thing that came away from our recent conversations is; whatever we settle on, it's going to be really important to stick with that and be as consistent as possible," Poles added. "Whatever we settle with going into training camp, we'd like to be as stable as possible so we're not flipping guys left and right."
That's a stark change from what the team experienced in 2024. Last summer, the battle between Coleman Shelton and Ryan Bates at center lasted for weeks until Bates was injured, and the lack of practice time by Nate Davis left a major question at the right guard spot heading into Week 1.
That won't happen this time around, with four positions already locked up and the only remaining spot still open being at left tackle to decide upon before training camp. Overall, it's a much stronger position to be in this time around.
Chicago Bears desire to bring out competition is going to be the best thing for this revamped process of constructing the offensive line
It’s finally a step in the right direction.
