In less than a week, the Chicago Bears have completely changed their offensive line.
It started with a trade for Jonah Jackson with the Los Angeles Rams for the 2025 sixth-round pick on March 4. A day later, Bears general manager Ryan Poles traded a 2026 fourth-round pick with the Kansas City Chiefs for former four-time Super Bowl champion left guard Joe Thuney. Then on Monday -- the start of the legal tampering period -- the Bears landed former Falcons center Drew Dalman on a three-year, $42 million deal with $28 million guaranteed.
The Chicago Bears' interior offensive line will feature completely new players than it did a season ago. Head coach Ben Johnson made it apparent in his introductory press conference that the offensive line was an area the team needed "to get better play from going forward." Johnson and Poles addressed the unit with much-needed upgrades in Thuney, Dalman and Jackson.
Unless the Bears draft a left tackle to replace Braxton Jones, which is possible, the starting O-line is complete heading into the 2025 season. Now that the offensive line has been overturned and solidified, let's take a look at how this current Bears unit compares to the one Johnson had in Detroit last season using stats and grades from Pro Football Focus.
Left Tackle
Detroit -- Taylor Decker (6-foot-7, 318 pounds)
Decker has played all nine of his NFL seasons with the Lions. The former first-round draft pick out of Ohio State played 889 snaps at left tackle last season. According to PFF, the 30-year-old allowed eight sacks, four quarterback hits, 19 hurries, 31 QB pressures allowed, and was penalized four times in his first Pro Bowl season of his career.
The veteran offensive tackle finished his ninth season with a 77.0 offensive grade, 72.0 run grade and 76.0 pass grade, according to PFF.
Chicago -- Braxton Jones (6-foot-5, 310 pounds)
Jones played just 12 games in his third season in the NFL. The 25-year-old offensive tackle missed time due to a knee injury and then had season-ending ankle surgery after the Week 16 loss to the Lions. The former fifth-round draft pick out of Southern Utah ended the 2024 season with five sacks allowed, two quarterback hits, 19 hurries, 26 QB pressures allowed and seven penalties, according to PFF.
The 6-foot-5, 310-pound left tackle played 719 snaps and ended with a 77.4 offensive grade, 70.2 run grade and 80.8 pass grade, according to PFF.
Left Guard
Detroit -- Graham Glasgow (6-foot-6, 315 pounds)
Glasgow has nine years of experience (six with the Lions and three with the Broncos). The former third-round draft pick out of Michigan ended his 2024 season with four sacks given up, nine quarterback hits, 23 total hurries, 36 QB pressures allowed and six penalties, according to PFF.
In his sixth season with the Lions, the 32-year-old guard ended with a 57.9 offensive grade, 57.8 run grade and 56.2 pass grade.
Chicago -- Joe Thuney (6-foot-5, 304 pounds)
The nine-year veteran and two-time All-Pro has played five seasons in New England and the last four in Kansas City. He ended his last regular season with the Chiefs playing 896 snaps at left guard and 218 at left tackle. According to PFF, he allowed zero sacks, six quarterback hits, 19 hurries, 25 QB pressures allowed and just one penalty.
Throughout Thuney's nine-year career, he has played in 16 or more games 8 times. The only season he has not played in full was in 2022 when he missed two games.
The 32-year-old left guard finished with a 79.0 offensive grade, 73.5 run grade and 82.0 pass grade.
Center
Detroit -- Frank Ragnow (6-foot-5, 310 pounds)
The Lions drafted Ragnow with the 20th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. In his seventh season, the 28-year-old center played 1,060 snaps and allowed just two sacks, seven quarterback hits, 11 hurries, 20 pressures, and had seven penalties, according to PFF.
He finished his fourth Pro Bowl season with an 85.3 overall grade, 90.8 run grade, and 63.6 pass-blocking grade.
Chicago -- Drew Dalman (6-foot-3, 305 pounds)
The Bears' newly acquired center played in just nine games in his fourth NFL season. The former fourth-round draft pick out of Stanford sustained an ankle injury in Week 3 against the Chiefs and didn't return until Week 13. According to PFF, Dalman allowed just two sacks, one quarterback hit, seven hurries, 10 QB pressures and was penalized three times.
With 554 snaps played last season, the 26-year-old center ended with a 78.8 offensive grade, 79.8 run grade, and 66.6 pass-blocking grade.
Right Guard
Detroit -- Kevin Zeitler (6-foot-4, 340 pounds)
The Cincinnati Bengals selected Zeitler with the 27th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. The 35-year-old offensive lineman has played for five teams and has 13 years of experience (1 Detroit, 3 Buffalo, 2 New York Giants, 2 Cleveland, 5 Cincinnati).
In his 2024 season with the Lions, he played 1,047 snaps at right guard and gave up five sacks, four quarterback hits, nine hurries, 18 QB pressures, and had two penalties.
He finished with an 86.8 offensive grade, an 87.2 run block grade (highest of his career), and a 71.8 pass block grade.
Chicago -- Jonah Jackson (6-foot-4, 315 pounds)
Jackson comes to Chicago with five years of NFL experience. The Lions selected Jackson in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. He has played 3,623 of his career snaps at left guard, 131 at center, and 211 at right guard, with 66 of the coming last season.
His 2024 season was limited to just four games due to a shoulder injury that placed him on injured reserve after Week 2 and he didn't return until Week 10. Following his return from injury, Jackson was benched and played in the regular season finale.
Since Jackson only played 266 snaps last season, here is how the 28-year-old interior offensive lineman graded out in his final season in Detroit in 2023, according to PFF. Jackson allowed two sacks, eight quarterback hits, 14 hurries, 24 QB pressures, and five penalties.
Jackson ended with 59.7 offensive grade, 68.8 run block grade and a 59.3 pass block grade in 2023.
Right Tackle
Detroit -- Penei Sewell (6-foot-5, 335 pounds)
The Lions selected Sewell with the seventh overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. The 24-year-old right tackle ended his fourth season by allowing just one sack, five quarterback hits, 22 hurries, 28 QB pressures, and six penalties.
Here is how Sewell graded out in 2024: 87.5 offensive grade, 90.5 run black grade, and a 74.1 pass block grade.
Chicago -- Darnell Wright (6-foot-5, 335 pounds)
The Bears selected Wright out of Tennessee with the 10th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Wright ended his second season with the Bears by allowing six sacks, three quarterback hits, 21 hurries, 30 QB pressures, and eight penalties, according to PFF.
Wright missed one game in Year 2 but did see improvement in his overall PFF grades from his rookie season. The 23-year-old right tackle finished with a 79.3 overall offensive grade (62.4 in 2023), 82.2 run grade (66.0 in 2023), and a 75.4 pass blocking grade (61.4 in 2023).
One takeaway when comparing the two units is that the Lions had a bigger O-line last season than what the Bears are projected to have in 2025. Detroit's line weighed 1,618 total pounds and Chicago's is listed at 1,569 pounds. Could that weight differential impact the Bears in short-yardage situations? It's tough to say, but Johnson will have offensive line coach Dan Roushar to discuss how to best utilize his players.
According to Over Tap Sports Net, Johnson used zone run concepts 65.4% of the time compared to 34.6% gap run concepts last season with the Lions. In the previous two seasons when Johson was calling plays, he leaned more into the gap run concepts (47.7% in 2023 and 55.8% in 2022). Johnson will have to experiment with what works best for the 2025 Bears.
The Lions in 2024 also had four former first-round draft picks, while the Bears have just one in Wright. Draft selection isn't everything, especially when you consider how well Thuney has done in his career as a former third-rounder, but it does highlight the type of talent on each offensive line.
The Bears have a younger offensive line with the average age being 26.8. The 2024 Lions averaged 29.8 years of age.
A lot of the players the Bears acquire in free agency and the draft will draw comparisons to the Lions. But in reality, Johnson and Poles aren't recreating the Lions in Chicago. They're constructing this new version of the Bears and have started by completely overhauling and upgrading the offensive line.