Do Chicago Bears have their future Right Tackle

One thing that Chicago Bears fans have been annoyed with is the state of the offensive line. While it is completely fair to bash Ryan Pace for spending far too little on the line in past year, it is also fair to recognize that he drafted two tackles in 2021 with Teven Jekins and Larry Borom. We are in nowhere close to a perfect world, but Pace envisioned Jenkins at LT and Borom at RT in his dream scenario.

Injuries to both derailed those plans, but the team has been able to get Borom into the mix the past two weeks. The timing as as good as possible because the team has yet to find any sort of competent play at right tackle.

Germain Ifedi has been on the COVID list and the IR, Elijah Wilkinson was on COVID, and the combination of Alex Bars and Lachavious Simmons was a mess. The team moved to their fifth option at right tackle, but arguably it was their best bet all along.

Larry Borom not only started, he got thrown into the fire against Nick Bosa and T.J. Watt. However, he held his own.

Below you can see the amount of pressure allowed by each tackle. The pressure stats are for the right tackle from the entire game, so Bars and Simmons are mixed.

Weeks 1-4, Germain Ifedi -Allowed 21.1% of pressure

Week 5-6 – Elijah Wilkinson – Allowed 33.3% of pressure 

Week 7 – Bars/Simmons Allowed 55.6% of pressure 

Weeks 8-9 – Borom Allowed 8.3% of pressure

You read that right. Ifedi had been the best of the group allowing 21.1% of all pressures. However, with Borom in the lineup only 8.3% of the pressure that Fields faced was because of Borom.

The counter to this is that the Bears finally learned how to use their backs and tight ends to chip block. They got David Montgomery back who is a great blocker, and with Borom being a rookie they gave him more help than others. Beyond that, T.J. Watt had multiple sacks.

That is fair in some regards, but Watt had a sack on a coverage play, and a play where Fields rolled right into him. Borom does not get the blame. Beyond that, he did not get help all game. He had to face Bosa and Watt at times and held his own. Every time their other right tackles have been put in the same spot it has gone horribly.

Keep in mind that no one is better than Watt and Bosa, either.

Ifedi faced Leonard Floyd, Sam Hubbard, Jadeveon Clowney, and Austin Bryant. Wilkinson spent his time against Maxx Crosby and Rashan Gary. Bars and Simmons were eaten alive by Jason Pierre-Paul. These names are all pretty talented, but when you hear Watt and Bosa, you know that Borom has faced the best competition.

So, Larry Borom is the youngest of the group and has as much as experience as any of them. He faced the best pass rushers of all of the right tackles and fared the best. No one is giving Borom his bust in Canton yet, but it is easy to say that they not only have a right tackle for the rest of the year, they may have one for their future.