If the Chicago Bears are looking to draft a guard in the middle rounds, they could be looking at Beau Benzschawel
Despite restructuring a deal with Kyle Long, the Chicago Bears enter the season with longterm questions at the guard position. After losing Eric Kush and Bryan Witzmann and only signing Ted Larsen, the team has room to draft a guard in 2019.
Beau Benzschawel is a senior from Wisconsin who was a first team All-American player last season. Why is he a mid-round prospect and does he fit the Chicago Bears?
Measurables
With some serious height, he has the shape of a tackle. In fact, Wisconsin brought him in and started him as a right tackle as a freshman. He kicked into guard in the middle of his redshirt freshman year and did not look back, starting for the next three seasons.
Beau Benzschawel has a quick first step and does well in pass protection. He was one of Pro Football Focus’s highest graded players last season, and ranked top ten in snaps per pressure allowed.
However, his questions come in his power and run support. His only weakness in pass protection was against the bull rush. He also graded out as a much better in pass protection than the run.
You can see by his bench press as well that he can be overwhelmed by power. This is the area that drops him from a solidified first round player, to a player within the Bears reach. Technique wise, he is ready to start next season.
What does NFL.com say?
"Tall, pass-blocking specialist who will need to prove he can be serviceable against NFL power in the run game to become a future starter. Benzschawel plays with good technique and an understanding of blocking concepts in the run game, but might lack the play strength at point of attack NFL teams look for. However, his allure to GMs and offensive coaches could be his ability to match up against athletic, sub-package rushers in today’s quickness-oriented rush approaches."
Skinny
Beau Benzschawel is a technically sound player. In that, he can start in a pinch. He
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needs to work up his core strength, but that is what NFL strength and conditioning programs are for.
With the Chicago Bears he can spend some time behind Kyle Long and Ted Larsen as a rookie, working on his core strength. If both got hurt, and the Bears were in a similar situation to last season, Beau Benzschawel could step in and start on the fly.
He would be a weakness in run support, but so was Bryan Witzmann last season. That was a worst case scenario situation. Beau Benzschawel could work with the Bears and add depth this season and compete for a starting job in 2019. At the worst, he has the potential to be a consistent depth guard with minimal tackle experience.
That is worth a mid round pick.