Evidence directly contradicts Ben Johnson's praise of Bears' Garrett Bradbury

While there is outside praise being drawn to Chicago Bears center Garrett Bradbury, the stats, numbers, and tape are telling a very different story.

Bradbury drew heavy criticism after being called for four penalties in the Bears' 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2. That total matched the number of penalties the 2025 Bears starting center Drew Dalman committed all season, according to Bears Wire's Brendan Sugrue.

After the loss, Bears head coach Ben Johnson was asked about Bradbury's performance and the mistakes he made. Johnson made sure to defend his guy.

"He's doing a great job," Johnson said. "It's a challenging day for a lot of people. We only scored three points, so yeah, we got a lot of guys that, myself included, I got to do a better job for these guys."

There is evidence proving that Garrett Bradbury is not "doing a great job"

Look, Johnson has to stick up for Bradbury and not completely throw him under the bus. That's understandable, but saying he's "doing a great job" is a flat-out lie.

Pro Football Focus ranks Bradbury 26th among 32 eligible centers, with an overall grade of 51. He also has a pass-blocking grade of 54.7 (26th) and a run-blocking grade of 56.7 (24th).

Among the 32 centers eligible for PFF, he ranks last in penalties. He's 17th in pressures with three.

Even just watching the tape, Bradbury gets beat off the line multiple times and struggles in pass protection. The Bears have had to move the running game to the right side of the line with Jonah Jackson and Darnell Wright, and avoid going up the middle with D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai to succeed.

Unfortunately, this is the situation the Bears are stuck in and can't do much about. They have to live with Bradbury being their starting center, as they don't have too many other options.

Rookie second-round pick Logan Jones is waiting for his opportunity to play center for the Bears this season. Jones showed great promise in college and was the fastest offensive lineman at the NFL Combine.

Throwing Jones in the lineup now would be detrimental to his development, as he is still learning the complexity of Johnson's offense. Maybe later in the season, but for now, it would be best for him to sit and let Bradbury work through his mistakes.

Read more: Jonah Jackson is significantly outplaying his $52 million Bears contract

Losing Dalman to retirement in the offseason continues to look like the biggest loss for the Bears and the one that hurt them the most. Things have to get better, especially with Caleb Williams expected to miss time with the hamstring injury. Bradbury has to figure things out and get this offense back on track.

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