How the Chicago Bears offseason could go if they trade for a 3-tech before the draft

Chicago Bears could move Cody Whitehair to center for at least one year

Moving on to the 64th pick, the Bears could go one of two ways. They could easily add to their defensive line or draft a center who preferably can also play guard. The strategy for drafting a center is this. He would be targeted as a possible starter in 2024 while being a backup in 2023.

As we know, Luke Getsy runs a complicated offense. For this reason, it would be smart to put Cody Whitehair a veteran at center for at least one year. Whitehair outside of some snap problems graded out well when he played center. It did appear that he was way off his game in 2022. However, he was also injured a lot of the time last season so maybe this off-year was just an outlier for him.

Whitehair already knows Luke Getsy's complex offense and this is very very important to Justin Fields' development in year three. Given Whitehair's knowledge of Getsy's offense and his seven years playing in the NFL, he would be better equipped to handle the complicated duties of a center in 2023 over a rookie center most likely regardless of how talented this rookie center may be.

I believe Whitehair's snap problems were when the QB was in the shotgun. However, this can be easily dealt with by having the left guard be the one looking back to see when the QB is ready for the snap. The guard can then tap Cody on the leg for him to snap the ball.

This way Whitehair can focus on making the best possible line calls before the QB is ready to get the play going. Assuming Whitehair is the Bears' starting center in 2023 and depending on how well he plays center, the Bears can later decide whether to keep Whitehair in that role next season or use their 2023 draft pick as their starting center in 2024.