The Chicago Bears limping to the finish line of the 2022 season. As the season continues to spin away from the team’s control, they now will be shuffling the offensive line with just three games to go. A knee injury to Cody Whitehair may have him on a different team next season, and the Bears are being smart about Teven Jenkins, who has a neck injury.
So, the team is going to be adding two new starters into the mix, what will the offensive line look like?
What will the Chicago Bears’ offensive line look like?
First, we can get the two locks out of the way. Braxton Jones will be the left tackle, and Sam Mustipher will be at center. The rest is up in the air. The team could start Riley Reiff, Alex Leatherwood, or Larry Borom at right tackle.
It appears as though Leatherwood is last on this list, though. He was awful against the Eagles, and it appears the team benched him at halftime. We also may be seeing the process of elimination guide us to Riley Reiff starting.
Larry Borom has played guard before, and many pre-draft analysts said he may be best in the NFL at guard. So, with two starters down, he has moved from right tackle to left guard. Matt Eberflus mentioned that the return of Borom may cause Leatherwood to lose his rotation spot at right tackle. But, that was before Eberflus also said that the team had to move Borom to left guard in recent practices.
However, if Borom moves to guard, the team can stick with Reiff at right tackle, with a sprinkling of Alex Leatherwood.
Borom is the key piece, and once he found his home, the rest comes together. Michael Schofield seems locked into starting at right guard. He has been the backup to both Teven Jenkins and Cody Whitehair this season and has played both guard spots.
The obvious issue is that he cannot fill both. So, they should roll with whichever spot Borom is most comfortable with. It gives them a real chance to look at Borom playing a spot some think he would be best in.
The depth becomes Ja’Tyre Carter, who will be active for only the third time this season, and Dieter Eiselen who has been asked to move to center. He will backup Sam Mustipher.