Chicago Bears sign veteran offensive tackle ahead of NFL Draft
CHICAGO – Most of the Bears' offseason talk has been geared toward Justin Fields and his maturation process, but there's another position that needs to mature as Fields does in 2022: the offensive line. Chicago gave up a league-high 58 sacks in 2021 and the running game was one of the worst in the NFL. […]
CHICAGO – Most of the Bears' offseason talk has been geared toward Justin Fields and his maturation process, but there's another position that needs to mature as Fields does in 2022: the offensive line.
Chicago gave up a league-high 58 sacks in 2021 and the running game was one of the worst in the NFL. Therefore, substantial improvements need to be made in 2022. Especially after the Bears lost their best offensive lineman in James Daniels.
The Bears signed Lucas Patrick during free agency, but missed out on Bills restricted free agent Ryan Bates shortly after. Overall, there hasn't been one move that should make the Bears -or their fans- feel any better about the front five heading into the draft.
But that won't -and shouldn't- stop the Bears from bringing in more veterans to compete for jobs along the offensive line. After holding tryouts on Thursday, the Bears announced Monday the decision to sign offensive tackle Julie'n Davenport.
Davenport was drafted by the Houston Texans in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He appeared in 27 games, starting 19, over his first two seasons before he was traded to the Dolphins via the Laremy Tunsil deal. He appeared in 24 games with nine starts before signing on with the Colts in March of 2021. Davenport then appeared in nine games with four starts last year.
Per Pro Football Focus, Davenport allowed four sacks and 20 total pressures in 2021. He finished the year with an overall blocking grade of 45.3, which ranked 86th out of 87 qualifying tackles with at least 278 blocking snaps on the year.
How Ryan Poles and the Bears view Davenport is currently unclear, but he'll likely come in and compete with Teven Jenkins, Larry Borom, Tyrone Wheatley Jr., and Lachavious Simmons for either a starting position or as depth. Jenkins and Borom are currently the favorites to land one of the starting tackle gigs, but big questions surround both players and nothing is set in stone.
However, given Davenport's pedigree, it's unlikely that he will force Jenkins or Borom out of favor for a starting gig. But, we've certainly seen crazier things happen in the NFL, before.
Featured image via Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
