Chicago Bears 2020 NFL draft preview: Offensive Line

Who are the best offensive line options for the Chicago Bears in the 2020 NFL draft?

The draft position preview that Chicago Bears fans have been waiting for. There is no doubt that despite needs at wide receiver, safety and cornerback, the lack of starting right guard, and depth as a whole on the offensive line is an issue.

The Bears haven’t put enough resources into the position. The question is, how do they address it? Which positions and what rounds?

With the help of an average ranking of all mock drafts to get the draft positioning, we will look at who will be options for the Chicago Bears. Who will be the best fits?

When looking at average mock drafts, the following prospects are off of the board by the Chicago Bears 43rd pick.

Tristan Wirfs, Mekhi Becton, Jedrick Wills, Andrew Thomas, Josh Jones, Austin Jackson, Cesar Ruiz, Ezra Cleveland

Ruiz and Cleveland are the most likely to fall, and we have covered both extensively with a Ruiz draft profile and Cleveland write up. Ruiz is the player Bears fans want to hope falls.

Round 2 Options

Below are the players who typically start going around pick 40, and may fall as low as pick 90 in average mocks. This would be the sweet spot for the Bears to pick a lineman in the second round.

Isaiah Wilson, Lloyd Cushenberry, Prince Tega Wanogho, Lucas Niang, Robert Hunt, Tyler Biadasz, Matt Hennessy

The list looks long but gets shorter with sorting. Wilson is getting buzz that he is on the rise, but he is a towering right tackle that we wrote about as well. Niang is another tackle that would have been a first-round prospect had he not had a hip injury in his senior season. We wrote about Niang as well. Tega Wanogho is a project left tackle who has the size you need but needs time to develop. The question with all three is if it is worth taking a depth tackle in the top 50.

Cushenberry, Biadasz, and Hennessy all played center in college. None of them played anywhere else, either. Hennessy has had talks that he could be a guard option in the NFL, but with the other two, you are likely moving Cody Whitehair, and not them. As mentioned, the list thins out.

This leaves Robert Hunt. Hunt is a player we have profiled. We also mocked Hunt to the Bears to 43. A groin injury cut his senior year short, and he is a right tackle moving inside, but Hunt has the tape of the first-round player and is the best player of this group in terms of video. The other questions may have him fall to 43, and the fact that the Bears need a right guard, and he projects to that role specifically makes it all the more enticing.

Best Option: Robert Hunt, hope Cesar Ruiz falls 

Do they “reach” for a guard?

You could argue that more than any other position, the Bears need to leave the top 50 with a right guard. With Hunt being the only option in realistic range, having injury questions, and not being able to get a physical between now and the draft, the Bears may pass on him. The following players could project to right guard. The issue is that average mock drafts have them going outside the top 90, but all before pick 140. That is 40 picks away from the Bears earliest, and 23 picks before their next pick at 163.

Shane Lemieux, Jonah Jackson, Damien Lewis, Ben Bredeson, John Simpson

Do they trade up from 163 for one? Do they trade down from 50, and use an extra pick around 100 for one of these five options? Do they go against the consensus and take their guy early? It seems unlikely the Bears end up with these otherwise. Which one would fit best?

John Simpson, Shane Lemieux, and Ben Bredeson spent their entire college careers at left guard. We have written up all three with Simpson, Lemieux, and Bredeson being attached. If anything, they likely hope these three slide to 163.

This leaves Damien Lewis and Jonah Jackson. Lewis is a mauler from LSU and would immediately updgrade the run game. We wrote about him here. If any of these options is worth going out on a limb and taking in the top 50, it is Lewis, who won a National Championship and still dominate the Senior Bowl and competed well at the combine. You want this toughness. Jackson is a transfer from Rutger to Ohio State. He played right guard at Rutgers and left guard at Ohio State. Jackson has great technical work with his hands and knows how to anchor. He is not an active athlete but is an efficient run blocker. He is 23 coming out and has 30 starts in college, and has had multiple offensive line coaches, showing he could step right in.

Trade-Up, Trade Down or Reach Options: Damien Lewis, Jonah Jackson

Miss out on

While you can make a case for maneuvering the draft for any of the five above, but specifically the two highlighted, the ones below are players that just do not fit. They are going between pick 90 and 140 and would not fit the immediate need of right guard. They would be best off passing at 50 and hoping these names fall to 163 if they are interested.

Netane Muti, Matt Peart, Jack Driscoll, Ben Bartch, Nick Harris, Saadiq Charles, Charle Heck

Muti has a long list of injury concerns and gets mocked higher than where he may actually go. If he falls, he becomes intriguing. Peart, Driscoll, Bartch, Charles, and Heck would all be depth tackles, and Harris has only played center. All would be luxury additions.

Round 5-6 Options

Below are players that consistently get mocked around the Chicago Bears fifth or sixth-round picks. They could all be options.

Hakeem Adeniji, Kyle Murphy, Calvin Throckmorton, Yasir Durant, Darry Williams, Tyre Phillips, Alex Taylor, Jake Hanson, Kevin Dotson, Solomon Kindley

Of this list, Durant, and Taylor would be drafted as project tackles. Hanson is a center only, so all three would fill depth more than compete to start.

Adeniji and Phillips are both tackles in college, but their length says that they are going to move to guard in the NFL. Adeniji is especially interesting at guard due to his athleticism and ability to pull in space.

Murphy comes from Rhode Island and has played all over the offensive line. The question with him is how he will hold up physically taking a step forward, so he is unlikely to provide starting snaps as a rookie, although most fifth-round picks wouldn’t.

However, of this group, the most likely to be drafted in this range would be Kindley, Dotson, and Throckmorton.

Kindley is a 337 bulldog from Georgia, and he plays like the mascot. He is violent, and while he often can take himself out of plays overreaching and missing, when he punches, defenders go down. He has mainly played left guard but has one season of right guard as well.

Dotson is a four-year right guard who played next to Robert Hunt at Louisiana. Dotson did not get a combine invite, but he is a tough run blocker who could be a gem that finds a way to start as a rookie.

Throckmorton is the last likely to get drafted here but is an interesting prospect. He has played all five spots at center and is a four-year starter at Oregon. He lacks all of the physical and athletic traits needed to make it in the NFL, but players as technically sound as him make it as a late-round picks some times. As a depth option who could play anywhere in a pinch, there are worse options in round six.

Most likely options: Solomon Kindley, Kevin Dotson

Round 7 Options

Below you can see a list of players who often get drafted in round seven in mock drafts.

Michael Onwenu, Jon Runyan, Keith Ismael, Tremayne Anchrum, Danny Pinter, Tyson Colon-Castillo, Cameron Clark, Cohl Cabral, Justin Herron

Ismael, Colon-Castillo, and Cabral all would be depth center options.

While all attention is on Cesar Ruiz and Ben Bredeson on the Michigan line, Runyan and Onwenu may be late-round steals. Onwenu has been their starting guard. He is a bit slow off of the line and can miss time his moves, but he does have the power to anchor.

Runyan is a player we highlighted and can play anywhere on the line if needed. Clark, Anchrum, Herron, and Pinter are similar to Pinter in that they all were college tackles who do not have the length to hold up at tackle. This will cause them to fall, but it could cause the Bears to find right guard depth.

Round 7 Options: Onwenu, Runyan, Pinter, Clark