Noted offensive line guru Brandon Thorn was a recent guest on Bill Zimmerman's Bears Banter podcast, and with all the questions surrounding the Chicago Bears offensive line, this interview was right on time. Chicago's offense has been one of the league's worst through two games, and the big guys have received the brunt of criticism. Bill asked Thorn plenty of questions about Chicago's o-line, the scheme, the pass protection, the overall construction on the unit, and where they go from here.
Thorn said he had the Bears ranked about 24th before the season, so he wasn't surprised they struggled in Houston on Sunday night against a Texans defensive line that he calls top ten. But he said there are better matchups on the horizon.
"This is a soft schedule in terms of a defensive line, especially the next three weeks," Thorn told Zimmerman. "Assuming the Colts have some injuries, which I think they do, Their run defense is terrible right now. The Rams have some young guys, the Panthers might be the worst team in the league, you know those are their next three games. I mean I think in three weeks we could be feeling a little bit better about this."
He also says that nothing he's seen from the Bears' offensive line has surprised him so far because they're playing at the level he expected. Bill asked him if he thinks the group can come together and look better.
Improvement should be coming for the Chicago Bears' offensive line.
“Yes, but also I would temper those expectations for the improvement as well,” Thorn said. “I’m not necessarily saying this is going to be a top half of the league unit over these next three games; that would be very surprising, too. I’m expecting it to be more functional and more competent... I would definitely say competency is something that people should probably expect over the next three games, but if that doesn’t happen, I would be pretty worried.”
A competent offensive line would be better than what we've seen thus far, and Thorn said the more they play together, the better the odds he gives them on improving. More continuity up front would also help them get comfortable with the stunts and blitzes they've been seeing.
Thorn goes on to give some individual assessments on the Bears linemen, discuss what he's seen from quarterback Caleb Williams post-snap in maneuvering the pocket, and plenty more.
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