Bears HC Ben Johnson has already thrown cold water on the overreactions popping up about key positional battle during OTAs
It only took one day of media access at the Chicago Bears organized team activities for everyone to lose their minds about who's taking what reps, and it makes me wonder, do people simply not listen?Right after the NFL Draft, Bears head coach Ben Johnson made it clear that there will be no depth chart […]
It only took one day of media access at the Chicago Bears organized team activities for everyone to lose their minds about who's taking what reps, and it makes me wonder, do people simply not listen?
Right after the NFL Draft, Bears head coach Ben Johnson made it clear that there will be no depth chart going into OTAs. No first-team, no second-team. Everyone is on the same plane going into this phase of the offseason.
Which makes sense. It's a new coaching staff, teaching a new system, to players they never worked with before. It's the only fair way to assess what the team has, and still needs, on the roster.
"We're not earning jobs here this spring time," Johnson explained during rookie minicamp. "What I would like to see offensively, we're still trying to comprehend the system… There's a lot that's going on in everyone's head in right now.
Yet, people are still overreacting over the last few hours because Kiran Amegadjie was "starting" over Ozzy Trapilo and taking first-team reps at left tackle. That's absolutely ridiculous to even talk about stuff like that in May. No one has assigned spots yet, and who knows what it looked like on Tuesday or the other days without media access.
On top of that, judging offensive line depth charts in May, with no pads, makes no sense and is frankly a waste of time because the coaches aren't even worried about it.
"We've been focused particularly in [the offensive line] room on fundamentals. What does a triple look like when we're working with the tight end? What's it going to look like on a drive block? When we're pulling, what do we want that to look like," Johnson added. "That's been our focus. I really don't want to get too much into depth on what that personnel is going to look like…
"We just simply don't know. We'll find that out when we get pads on. You can't climb the depth chart in the spring time, particularly on the O-line and D-line."
So no, Amegadjie is not "above" Trapilo during OTAs. It's simply the player who's been in the building longer with more understanding of the system taking first reps. Simple as that.
If you're wanting more information on how Amegadjie and Trapilo have looked, left guard Joe Thuney weighed in on both players during his media availability.
"He's a really nice guy, good dude," Thuney said about Trapilo. "Works really hard and gets into his playbook. It's a big jump going from college to the pros and he's working really hard, keeping his head down, listening, taking everything like a sponge."
"He's another really hard worker," Thuney added about Amegadjie. "Really smart guy. It's fun to talk back and forth playing next to him, seeing how we see the game and talking about different looks."
Other than that, and what other comments are being said by fellow players or coaches, don't pay much attention to who's lining up where and in what order until we get to training camp later this summer. It's a complete waste of time and creates even more unnecessary controversy.
Bears WR Rome Odunze is already looking like a ‘seasoned pro’ based on the early reviews out of OTAs heading into his second season
2025 should be a big year for him.
