The Chicago Bears have struggled in the run game since they cut longtime center Cody Whitehair. Overall, the Bears running stats are down this year compared to previous seasons.
In 2022, the Chicago Bears led the league in rushing with a whopping 3,014 rushing yards, per StatMuse. The same trend occurred in the 2023 season when the Bears rushed for 2,399 rushing yards, which was second to only the Baltimore Ravens.
With Cody Whitehair in the lineup, the Bears were a dominant running team. Now, the team is currently 29th in team rushing yards with 629, per NFL.com. It took the Bears four games to rush for more than 100 yards in a single game this season, which came against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 4. If this trend continues, the Bears will have their worst season running the ball in a long time.
Blame can't go toward the running backs. If anything, the running back room is better this year with D'Andre Swift. The offensive line has been struggling. Getting rid of Whitehair is a huge reason for the Bears running game being down bad.
Overall, the entire Bears offensive line has struggled, not just at center. Besides running the ball, they've given up way too many sacks this year, which is the worst thing that can happen when you have a rookie quarterback at the lead. They also had to rewrite the starting lineup on multiple occasions due to injuries up front. Guard Ryan Bates, who they traded a fifth-round pick for, is on injury reserve with fellow guard Bill Murray and left tackle Larry Borom.
Whitehair was cut last offseason to create salary cap space to re-sign star cornerback Jaylon Johnson and free agents Keenan Allen and D'Andre Swift. The Bears would have been better off keeping Whitehair, even if he is 32.
Since leaving the Bears, Whitehair was signed by the Las Vegas Raiders and has played in all seven games for them, starting in two.