Which teams could draft a tackle before Chicago Bears?

The Chicago Bears will be debating drafting an offensive tackle with the ninth overall pick. The door opened very wide when Matt Eberflus discussed moving Braxton Jones to the right side. More than that, if you play the mock draft game, it is very easy to get to pick number nine without an offensive tackle being taken.

Will Chicago Bears draft the first tackle in 2023 NFL draft?

When you think of the first two teams in the draft, you see that they are going with a quarterback. The Panthers passed on Kenny Pickett last year to take an offensive tackle, and they extended Taylor Moton as well.

The Texans locked down Laremy Tunsil to protect their top quarterback coming. Next is the Cardinals, and they have D.J. Humphries. He is on a pretty team-friendly deal, and while the team could upgrade, they also could not move from Humphries until next season. Beyond that, the discussion in that range centers around Will Anderson more than anything else.

So, we get to pick four, and the Colts have Bernard Raimann and Braden Smith. They could upgrade, but they drafted a tackle last year knowing that he was more developmental. They brought him along slowly so it would be hard to see them move on already. Beyond that, they also have bigger needs, such as quarterback.

Onto pick five, the Seattle Seahawks, who just drafted Charles Cross. When you add in the drafted Abe Lucas to start at right tackle as well, they are out on tackles. The same can be said for Detroit. Even though Taylor Decker is getting older, the combination of him and Penei Sewell remains one of the best in the NFL.

The seventh pick is the Raiders who have their blindside in Kolton Miller. They also extended their starting right tackle this offseason, so count them out. This leaves the Falcons who have Jake Matthews and just re-signed Kaleb McGary. Maybe, just maybe one of these teams does Peter Skoronsi because they want to move him to guard.

Still, if Skoronski is drafted this high, he probably is not playing tackle anywhere. The teams picking in the top eight mostly need defense and quarterback much more than actual offensive linemen. It helps that Detroit and Seattle actually have these picks through trades.

Either way however you look at it you cannot find a team that will definitely be drafting an offensive tackle in the top ten. You also can hardly make the case for any to consider it. The Chicago Bears will probably have all options on deck when they select.