Ranking the Chicago Bears 2021 offensive units to the current roster
The offensive line has changed drastically for the Chicago Bears
This is going to be a tough one to grade — mainly because so much has changed between 2021 and 2022. Rather than break down the offensive tackles and the interior linemen, let’s just look at the whole offensive line as a whole.
"2021: Jason Peters – LT Cody Whitehair – LG Sam Mustipher – C James Daniels – RG Germain Ifedi – RT Larry Borom – OT Teven Jenkins – OT Elijah Wilkinson – OT Lachavious Simmons – OT Alex Bars – OG 2022: Larry Borom – LT Cody Whitehair – LG Lucas Patrick – C Sam Mustipher – RG Teven Jenkins – RT Braxton Jones – OT Julie’n Davenport – OT Zachary Thomas – OG Dakota Dozier – OG Doug Kramer – OG/C Ja’Tyre Carter – OG"
Alright, let’s break this down. Left tackle easily goes to the 2021 roster since Jason Peters played at an above-average level and is a future Hall of Famer. Left guard is a wash since Cody Whitehair will lock it down for both seasons. Lucas Patrick is an upgrade over Sam Mustipher and we are back to a tie between the two lines.
On the right side, James Daniels is easily an upgrade over the current roster — unless one of these rookies hit. In all honestly, that is a true possibility. Ryan Poles watched Trey Smith take over the right guard spot for the Chiefs last year and never looked back. Daniels had a rough 2021 season, but his prior three years were all above average and he even flirted with Pro Bowl levels. As of now, the team is throwing Sam Mustipher and Dakota Dozier out there. Yikes!
The right tackle spot is being held down by Teven Jenkins. Jenkins saw limited action as a rookie due to back surgery but has been slotted into the starting right tackle spot early on this offseason. Last year the position was held down for the most part by both Germain Ifedi and Larry Borom.
Positional Ranking: 2022 Wins (barely)
In this case, I am going to take into consideration the shift in the scheme. Luke Getsy cannot be any worse than Matt Nagy at calling plays. Now, the only thing standing in his way is proving his playbook is better too — from all reports, it should be. There is plenty of upside in Teven Jenkins and Lucas Patrick instantly makes this line better over Sam Mustipher. Larry Borom and the right guard spots are somewhat question marks but I think the Chicago Bears will find the best combination and outperform the 2021 roster.
This means out of the five positional groups, three go to the 2022 roster and two go to the 2021 roster. However, many were very close and we, hopefully, will see a major upgrade on offense in 2023 through both the draft and free agency.