Bears Training Camp Battle Breakdown: Can Braxton Jones return and keep his job at LT or will Ozzy Trapilo's momentum continue to rise?
Welcome to the month of July, AKA the first month with real football back on the calendar.While the Chicago Bears won't technically be playing in a game until August, this is still going to be an exciting month with training camp starting in just a few days.Rookies will report back to team facilities on July […]
Welcome to the month of July, AKA the first month with real football back on the calendar.
While the Chicago Bears won't technically be playing in a game until August, this is still going to be an exciting month with training camp starting in just a few days.
Rookies will report back to team facilities on July 19th with veterans returning to the building on July 22nd. Over the next few days leading up to the start of camp, we'll be breaking down a previewing some of the top roster battles and who's in the running for specific roles/positions.
It's only right we start by breaking down the left tackle battle, which is easily the most critical positional battle on the entire team going into the 2025 season.
Come training camp, there will be three players battling for the starting left tackle job in Braxton Jones, Ozzy Trapilo, and Kiran Amegadjie. Let's break down each player and then make a prediction for who we believe comes out on top.
Braxton Jones
The veteran incumbent starter is expected to return at some point during training camp after rehabbing from an ankle surgery to repair a fractured fibula suffered in Week 16 of the 2024 season.
Jones has started all 40 games at left tackle since being drafted in the fifth-round of the 2022 NFL Draft and has been one of the best draft values made by general manager Ryan Poles. It's rare to find such a consistent starter so late in the draft and his level of play has been just as consistent over the last three seasons.
During the 2024 season, Jones posted a career-best 80.8 pass blocking grade with a 70.2 run blocking grade. On the flip side, Jones allowed five sacks and 26 total pressures while having five penalties.
Entering into the final year of his rookie contract, Jones was expected to be the surefire starter once again in 2025, but that was before the injury, which has now made things more complicated.
“Braxton has been in that role for the last couple years and the injury was significant," offensive line coach Dan Roushar said before the draft. "If he were healthy today, he would be our left tackle and we would have confidence in him doing the job."
Ozzy Trapilo
Unfortunately, Jones was not healthy, of course, during the 2025 NFL Draft and the Bears found themselves in front of an opportunity that was too hard to pass up. In the second-round of the draft, the Bears managed to get a hold of three selections and used one of those picks to draft Ozzy Trapilo out of Boston College.
The 6'8, 316 pound rookie has experience at both tackle positions, despite mainly playing on the right side at the end of his college career. Even still, Trapilo focused his efforts on refining his left tackle techniques after the season to help boost his stock.
With the Bears, Poles mentioned that Trapilo gives the team an option at either position but during OTAs and minicamp, he was rotating in on the left side.
From what we heard from head coach Ben Johnson and his fellow teammates, Trapilo is an incredibly smart player who has been impressing everyone by picking up the offense at a fast rate.
"He’s exactly who we thought he was going to be—super smart," Johnson said. "He takes those concepts in the meeting straight to the field and applies them immediately."
Kiran Amegadjie
While this seems to be a two-man race once Jones is cleared to practice, we still need to discuss the possibility of Kiran Amegadjie as well. The second-year tackle has been rotating in with Trapilo earlier this offseason and the staff made it a point to give both players the same opportunities, so it's not fair to exclude him from the conversation.
Amegadjie's rookie season was a forgetful experience. After suffering a torn quad during his final year in college, Amegadjie was held out of the majority of the offseason last year and didn't see the field on offense until Week 5 in garbage time.
His first start came in Week 15 against the Minnesota Vikings on the road, a night the young tackle would love to forget. Amegadjie allowed one sack, four pressures, and had four penalties in the loss. PFF charted him with a 39.3 offensive grade.
It was a tough environment for anyone to play in, much less an inexperienced rookie making his first start on a blindside island. He still has the tools and upside worth tapping into, and that's something the coaches are looking to see out of him.
"I liked Kiran a lot coming out last year. He was a guy we had earmarked as a potential developmental prospect," Johnson said. "He had a lot of traits to work with. We're not discouraged at all by what he put on tape. He got put into some tough situations."
So, who's getting the job?
I'm still torn on this decision. I think the Bears really want to see how Jones looks coming off his injury, and right now no one has any idea how that might turn out.
Under the previous staff, Jones will easily be the starter again for Week 1, regardless of how he looks. With the new staff, and current state of the team, throwing Trapilo out there to start the season and letting him gain starting experience is the best plan, if he's ready to take on the challenge.
Ultimately, this comes down to how Jones looks moving around the field and how Trapilo looks holding his own against top caliber pass rushers. If I were to make a definitive prediction now, I'm saying the rookie gets the nod out of the gate.
