Chicago Bears' offseason confirms team addressed a major weakness

This was a big offseason for the Chicago Bears. They made moves at quarterback, wide receiver, and across the roster to provide a completely new look roster. While all of the talk is about Caleb Williams, Keenan Allen, and Rome Odunze, an underrated move the Bears made was to improve their offensive line depth. 

Last year, the Bears were cycling through offensive linemen. They are bringing back four of their five starters, but guys such as Larry Borom, and Ja’Tyre Carter were getting serious snaps. Even Doug Kramer and Dan Feeney had to see the field because Cody Whitehair had to move around and Lucas Patrick was injured at center. This year, the vibe is better. 

As it stands, they have two options at center that are much better than last year. Coleman Shelton started the entire season for the Los Angeles Rams and they made the playoffs with him. He was an issue. Shelton is expected to be the backup for the first snaps of training camp.

That is because the Bears added Ryan Bates, who is expected to start at center. Bates does not have much experience at center, but he has played all five offensive line positions. 

Overall, Shelton is an upgrade from Patrick and Bates is a younger version of what the Bears needed from Whitehair last year. 

The Chicago Bears finally have offensive line depth

More than that, the Bears signed Matt Pryor. Pryor has experience at four of the five offensive line positions. His experience and talent is much greater than someone like Ja’Tyre Carter. Lastly is Jake Curhan. Curhan started four games at right tackle for the Seattle Seahawks last year. He has 633 right tackle snaps and has a little experience at both guard spots. His relationship with Shane Waldron should help him improve over Larry Borom, who struggled backing up Braxton Jones last year. 

Even in the case of Pryor and Curhan, they are potential upgrades over Borom and Carter, but Carter and Borom are still on the roster. They are just pushed even further down, showing how deep this roster is. 

Fans complained that Ryan Pace failed to address offensive line depth for years and it cost him. In the first two years, Ryan Poles struggled to do the same. This year, it looks like he finally figured it out.