The Chicago Bears got a lot of surprise performances in their run to the NFC Divisional Round. It is hard to make it that far without a few underrated superstars, so Pro Football Focus may have had a hard time narrowing down the list when they chose their secret superstars for every team.
When it came down to it, Zach Tantillo of PFF chose Ozzy Trapilo as their secret star.
"Trapilo stepped into the Bears’ starting left tackle role in Week 12 and quickly became one of the offense’s most reliable contributors. From that point on, he ranked as Chicago’s sixth-highest-graded offensive player and graded out as a top-10 offensive rookie.Zach Tantillo
His season ended in the wild-card round against the Packers when he suffered a torn patellar tendon in the final two minutes, but he was able to hop off the field, preserving the Bears’ final timeout."
Who is the Chicago Bears' secret superstar?
It is hard to be well-known and not start the first 11 games of the season, so the secret part definitely makes sense. Trapilo was up-and-down in the role, but that was expected considering he played right tackle through the majority of his college career.
Still, by the end of the season, the offense looked as good as it ever did, and a lot of that is because Trapilo slid into his role, and the team did not have a real weakness on its line.
The issue heading into next year is the patellar tendon injury. The team opted to push Joe Thuney to left tackle rather than using a backup option behind, showing where they think they stand on depth at left tackle.
Trapilo is likely to miss the first couple of games of 2026, if not more. The team will need to find someone to replace Trapilo, or at least fill the void left by Trapilo during that time. That is not going to be easy to do.
So, while Trapilo had a fun year and could be considered a secret, there is a question about whether he can deliver superstar-level play for the Bears moving forward.
Some other good choices would have been Kyle Monangai, Austin Booker, and D’Marco Jackson. Monagai was selected well after Trapilo and had a real impact that could continue into next year. Booker took hold of the edge rusher job opposite Sweat and showed some real promise.
Then, there is Jackson, who was as good as, if not better than, both Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards when he was on the field. He was not a lock to make the team when he was added, and he gave legitimate snaps in the playoffs for them.
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If we are talking about the biggest secret and a real star player on the 2025 team, it may have been Jackson who was the right choice.