With the Chicago Bears set to have their first training camp practices this week, there will be some prominent things to keep any eye on. Many of them are focused on the offensive side of the ball, as expected with the needed turnover and reinforcements there in support of Caleb Williams.
Williams was sacked a league-high 68 times last season, so the most prominent position battle heading into Bears' training camp is naturally at left tackle. Incumbent starter Braxton Jones suffered a fractured ankle late last season, so his status for the start of camp is unclear as of this writing. Rookie second-round pick Ozzie Trapilo is easily the most prominent competition for Jones, but second-year man Kiran Amegadjie has a chance to make it a three-man battle.
Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune recently offered 10 storylines to watch during Bears' training camp. The left tackle battle was of course high on the list at No. 2, but Wiederer brought back an idea that seemed to be put to bed by general manager Ryan Poles.
"Also don’t be surprised if the Bears test right tackle Darnell Wright on the left side from time to time during camp as a contingency plan."
Could Darnell Wright really ultimately be moved to left tackle?
Before April's draft, when asked about the possibility if things broke that way during the draft, Poles made it clear Wright was an option at left tackle.
"Yeah, I think that’s a conversation", Poles said. "We’ll see how everything goes. He clearly has the ability to play left and right. We saw that in college. That was part of the value in taking Darnell. If he had to play left, I think he could play left."
As mentioned, Poles later put the idea of Wright moving to right tackle to bed when he revealed the plan was to have Trapilo compete there right off the bat.
Wright predominantly played right tackle over his four years in college at Tennessee (1,752 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus). But he did spend one season at left tackle, as a junior in 2021, albeit with a dismal 59.9 pass blocking grade.
Wright has played every NFL snap of his first two NFL seasons at right tackle. He also made some notable progress last season, coming in as PFF's 16th-highest graded offensive tackle with the ninth-best run blocking grade at the position (82.2) as well as a top-30 pass blocking grade (79.2).
When he played for the Minnesota Vikings years ago, a reporter asked former NFL offensive lineman Artis Hicks what it was like to switch sides of the line. He likened it to learning to write with the hand you don't normally write with. Everything is the opposite of what you've been doing-namely footwork, hand placement, etc.
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Ideally, the Bears don't feel they have to mess with Wright's rhythm at right tackle at all unless it becomes a desperate situation on the other side. But some stray training camp snaps at left tackle, just in case, can't hurt.