How will Chicago Bears divide OL snaps in preseason finale?
One of the most important things for the Chicago Bears to figure out this summer was their offensive line. Through two preseason games, the team has started to sort things out. With one game to go, Matt Eberflus said that the starters will get about a half of action, with some older players getting pulled a bit earlier.
With that in mind, how will the Chicago Bears divide snaps for their tackles?
Chicago Bears Left Tackle
Braxton Jones is going to start, and will likely play the entire first half. The question from there is what they do in the second half. The team could get a long look at either Larry Borom or Riley Reiff in the swing tackle role here.
One or the other could start at right tackle, then finish the game at left tackle, which would give the team a great look. Or, since both will be getting extended looks at right tackle, you may just see Jones in the first half, then Shon Coleman in the second half, as he is the only other left tackle.
Chicago Bears Left Guard
Cody Whitehair will start with the Chicago Bears’ first-team offense, but he is a candidate to be one of the veterans that will be off of the field earlier than some starters.
This would give rookie Zach Thomas a series or two with the starters. Thomas could work the last series of the first half, go into the half and make adjustments, then come out and play most of the second half.
The only other left guard option is Lachavious Simmons, so the question will be if the team still wants to see some of the Ryan Pace leftovers, or if they want to play their rookie draft pick the entire second half.
Chicago Bears center
Sam Mustipher will get the starter treatment in place of Lucas Patrick. The team has been starting him and pulling him when Justin Fields leaves the game the entire preseason. Beyond that, Dieter Eiselen is the backup center, and this will be the second time he will ever play center in the NFL, last week being the first.
With that in mind, he will likely get the entire second half to play center and at least prove that his development is worth keeping as an emergency player. The only other center signed is Corey Dublin, who has been on the team for less than a week, and looked out of place during his minimal snaps when Eiselen left with an injury last week.
Dublin is still not ready to get out there, so expect Mustipher in the first half, then Eiselen In half two.
Chicago Bears right guard
This will be the position to watch for three different reasons. Teven Jenkins can win the job and will be with the starters. Then, there is Michael Schofield. However, he could not only play well and beat Jenkins, but a poor performance likely has him cut, as the third guard in this rotation is Ja’Tyre Carter.
Carter is a rookie draft pick and has flashed enough that the team may keep him in favor of Schofield. So, if Jenkins plays the entire first half, it will be fascinating to see how Chicago walks the line between getting a final look at Schofield and seeing if Carter needs a year on the practice squad.
Chicago Bears Right Tackle
As noted, an argument could be made that the starter in this game has not won anything, because it could just mean that they will shift to left tackle, when the other right tackle steps in. Still, we will finally see Riley Reiff in a Bears uniform after he has not played the first two weeks.
The team is likely going to split the first half for one and the second half for the other, but they also have Jean Delance.
Delance has only played nine snaps, and they appear to be hiding him for the practice squad, so Borom and Reiff playing the entire game are on the table.