Chicago Bears: 4 Weakest position groups heading into 2023
By Evan Bruner
Chicago Bears Weakest Position No. 4: Center
To many, the loss of Sam Mustipher was addition by subtraction. Mustipher’s on-field play left a lot to be desired and led to him becoming the team’s punching bag on social media.
The good thing is that it will be hard for things at center to get much worse than they’ve been the last couple of years. The bad thing is that an assumed improvement at the position doesn’t guarantee it won’t be a weakness in 2023.
From a talent standpoint, it’s reasonable to think whoever Chicago trots out at center will be better than Mustipher. However, the Bears currently lack a true center on the roster. Many have speculated that Cody Whitehair will fill the vacancy and return to center this season.
We have enough data points to conclude that Whitehair is a much more effective guard than he is center and has struggled to give the quarterback good snaps in the past. This may not seem like the biggest deal, but playing in rhythm has been one of Justin Fields’ biggest struggles, and having to get off balance to corral a bad snap has the potential to throw everything out of sync.
Overall, whoever Chicago puts in at center will likely be there out of necessity, not out of personal preference. Even with Mustipher gone center could be a weak point once again in 2023.