5 dream scenarios for Chicago Bears in 2023
1. The Chicago Bears find an unlikely starter at center
The Chicago Bears are currently talking up Cody Whitehair as their starting center. However, it is hard not to notice that Lucas Patrick has split time with Whitehair in OTAs and minicamp. That could be because they want to keep Whitehair fresh, or it could be because they owe Patrick after injury is the only thing taking him out of the lineup last year. Either way, the move speaks to the lack of trust in Whitehair entering the year.
However, one reason they did not address center this offseason goes beyond those two. It is that Doug Kramer and Dieter Eiselen still have the coaches respect. Kramer is a seventh round pick who missed his entire rookie season. Eiselen is a UDFA from the Ryan Pace days, but the Poles coaching staff finally moved him from guard to center. Last year he got preseason work and spent the year as the backup center thanks to the Patrick and Kramer injuries.
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The dream scenario is not Whitehair braving out a year only to be too old to hold it down next year. The dream is that one of Kramer or Eiselen wins the job in training camp. They are both young and cost-controlled and could end up being the center of the future, while Whitehair and Patrick feel like short-term bandaids.