Bears offensive line concerns could be exploited by Raiders
The Chicago Bears will be playing a dangerous game on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders in their Week 7 matchup. The Bears have already ruled out offensive lineman Nate Davis and have listed fellow offensive linemen Darnell Wright and Dan Feeney as questionable. Not only will the Bears potentially without multiple players up-front against […]
The Chicago Bears will be playing a dangerous game on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders in their Week 7 matchup.
The Bears have already ruled out offensive lineman Nate Davis and have listed fellow offensive linemen Darnell Wright and Dan Feeney as questionable.
Not only will the Bears potentially without multiple players up-front against a feisty Raiders defensive line, the team will also be starting a backup quarterback in undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus addressed the media on Friday and provided updates on the current state of the unit. Eberflus did add that he feels Wright is in a good enough position to start on Sunday, but the team will continue to assess his availability throughout the weekend leading up to kickoff.
"In terms of the offensive line depth, we've had a lot of different combinations this week," Eberflus said. "I'm not going to talk about, who's playing left guard, right guard, center, all those things for obvious reasons. And, again, we'll solidify that as we go."
The recipe isn't a great look for Chicago heading into the weekend and could result in a lot of trouble on Sunday. However, the Bears are no strangers to dealing with issues on the offensive line this season.
Through the first six games of the season, the Bears have trotted out the same five starting offensive linemen just twice (Weeks 4-5). The starting five in those two games consisted of left tackle Larry Borom, left guard Cody Whitehair, center Lucas Patrick, right guard Nate Davis, and right tackle Darnell Wright.
Those two games are the only form of consistency the Bears have had to start a game this season from their offensive line, and it wasn't even the ideal group. The ideal starting five for the Bears still hasn't been shown together for an entire game in 2023.
It's already been confirmed that it won't be the case again this weekend. However, things get even more complicated for the Bears if Wright can't play on Sunday. The team's first-round selection is the only player on the offensive line who has started every single game in 2023 at the same position (Whitehair has started every game, but was moved from left guard to center in Week 6, and was later pulled from the game.)
The Bears reportedly tested several different offensive line combinations throughout the week to determine how the unit will be constructed on Sunday. The real asset the Bears have at their disposal is Teven Jenkins. Jenkins returned to the lineup in Week 5 and has experience at three different positions up-front.
Here's what options the Bears have on the offensive line on Sunday, depending on whether or not Wright will be starting:
LT: Borom
LG: Jenkins or Whitehair
C: Patrick or Whitehair
RG: Jenkins or Ja'Tyre Carter
RT: Wright* or Aviante Collins or Jenkins
Clearly, there are a lot of moving parts to consider on Sunday. If Week 6 showed any inclination after Bagent replaced Fields at quarterback in the third quarter, Patrick will serve as the team's starting center. Patrick immediately replaced Whitehair at the position after the rookie entered the game against the Vikings.
"During the game, Lucas [Patrick] came in because we wanted to settle Tyson [Bagent] down and it was good to do that," Eberflus said on Monday. "I thought it really did help settle him down a little bit. [Patrick's] got more experience, and that's where it was, and that's why we decided to [make the change]."
The Bears questionable unit up-front will be tasked with defending Bagent from the Raiders pass rush led by defensive end Maxx Crosby. Crosby has 5.5 sacks and 8 QB hits on the season during what has been a dominate 2023 season.
Eberflus had nothing but praise for the Raiders defender leading up to Sunday's matchup.
"I guarantee that when everybody plays him, he gets their attention," Eberflus said about Crosby. "He gets attention because of his effort, that's the thing that jumps off, and, of course, he's a great athlete. He's one of the hardest workers from what I hear in practice, so those are the kinds you guys you want."
It'll be interesting to see which starting five the Bears will roll out on Sunday and how those five will handle dealing with the Raiders defensive front, while keeping their rookie quarterback up-right in the pocket.
Bears rule out Justin Fields, four others vs. Raiders
Not looking good for Week 7