Chicago Bears: Cody Whitehair Quarter Review
How has the Chicago Bears starting center played in his first four games of 2018?
With the Chicago Bears bye being on the quarter mark of the season it was a good time to look into how each player has done so far through 1/4 of the games. As we break down the offensive line, this post will focus on Cody Whitehair. How would you grade Cody Whitehair?
As a run blocker, he has to be considered the best. While he has had more losses in run blocking than Charles Leno, the team has run straight at the center more than any other spot on the offensive line. With that, no other spot on the unit has had more success in the ground game.
What is so impressive about Whitehair’s game is how athletic he is in his ability to get out into space. That is tough to do as a center, but with the integration of James Daniels, the Bears are about to have a very athletic duo. Based on what they have done with Whitehair so far, there is a lot of reason to be optimistic about his standing moving forward.
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When it comes to pass protection, Whitehair has been one of the most consistent, allowing zero sacks or hits, and just two pressures with three other losses. The five combined losses are better than the six of Leno, or the 11 of Eric Kush. However, in contrast to the running game, it could be argued Leno has been the top pass blocker because he sees edge rushers every snap. Teams have strayed away from Whitehair and have attacked their guards instead.
In that regard, Whitehair has done really well and leads the team in clean up blocks on assisted plays where he was untested.
Overall
Whitehair gets killed for a couple of bad snaps. Do not get me wrong; those are devastating. However, those are taking away from the fact that Cody Whitehair has otherwise been an elite talent on the NFL field. The snap issues are going to play a huge role in his grade, but he is passing as the teams most proven run blocker and most consistent pass blocker.
Grade: B