The Chicago Bears have had a lot of shuffling and sorting on their offensive line. So, we have been going through each position and grading how each player has looked so far. Where do the Bears grade out on the offensive line?
Chicago Bears left tackle
Larry Borom: 253 snaps
Primary matchups: Mike Danna, Felix Anuduike-Uzomah, Nik Bonitto, Jonathan Cooper, Chase Young, Pat Jones, DJ Wonnum
Things are not going well for Larry Borom right now. He was thrown into the mix in week four after Braxton Jones was placed on the IR, and he has not found his groove yet. In his first game, he was not a huge disappointment, but the game got out of hand quickly.
The Broncos had a better look at him and took advantage. Borom committed two penalties, allowed a sack, and four pressures per PFF. Most of that came against Nik Bonitto and Jonathan Cooper, so it was not the worst competition. That set up for him to struggle against Chase Young the following week, though. After the weaker rushers got him, Young was licking his chops and beat him all night.
In week seven, he matched up with D.J. Wonnum and Pat Jones a lot. Wonnum had his best game of the year as a pass rusher. He beat him outside a few times, but Borom really struggled with stunts next to Teven Jenkins. The team has a bad situation brewing here.
Larry Borom Grade: D-
Braxton Jones: 126 snaps
Primary matchups: Preston Smith, Justin Hollins, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Anthony Nelson
Braxton Jones has not played since our last grade on him.
Braxton Jones Grade: C+
Chicago Bears left guard
Cody Whitehair: 265 snaps
Primary matchups: TJ Slaton, Kenny Clark, Devonte Wyatt, Logan Hall, Mike Greene, Neil Farrell, Derrick Nnadi, Zach Allen, Jonathan Harris
We have discussed Whitehair and his performance at left guard in previous posts. He has been primarily at center, which is where we will go more in-depth on his recent performance.
Cody Whitehair grade at LG: D+
Teven Jenkins: 103 snaps
Primary matchup: Jonathan Allen, Dean Lowry, Jon Bullard, Harrison Phillips
The Bears offensive line has looked more competent with Teven Jenkins in the lineup. He came out of the gate hot, and the rushing attack has been better in the past two weeks with him. Jenkins has struggled with stunts a few times, as he followed his man outside and saw D.J. Wonnum stunt inside on him with ease. One play ended with Jenkins falling over, trying to backpedal. It was not as clean as his first game, and it will be interesting to see if teams start to attack Jenkins and Borom in the way that Brian Flores did.
Teven Jenkins Grade: B-
Ja'Tyre Carter: 11 snaps
Primary Matchup: Jonathan Allen
Carter struggled in the 11 snaps that he was asked to play at left guard. We will go further into his grade at right guard, where he has more tape to evaluate.
Ja'Tyre Carter grade at LG: D-
Chicago Bears center
Lucas Patrick: 290 snaps
Primary matchups: TJ Slaton, Kenny Clark, Greg Gaines, Vita Vea, Derrick Nnadi, DJ Jones, Khyiris Tonga
It has been a long road for Lucas Patrick, and not much of it has been successful. He spent a lot of the summer injured and was thrust into the lineup because Teven Jenkins was placed on the IR. Early into the season, he looked lost.
Patrick suffered an injury in week five and left the game. It happened to be right when the team activated Jenkins from the IR, so the Chicago Bears moved Cody Whitehair to center and started Jenkins. This worked in the week five win, and the Bears were supposed to use this lineup when the season started, so they kept it in week six. However, Cody Whitehair had a bad snapping issue and he was benched, so Patrick came back in. You can say Patrick was better than Whitehair in that run, but he was not good, either.
Lucas Patrick Grade: D-
Cody Whitehair: 87 snaps
Primary matchup: John Ridgeway, Khyiris Tonga
As we noted, nothing Cody Whitehair has done in any position warrants a high grade. He has been asked to move around a lot, and that is not fair to him. Snapping issues have been a thing with him since Mitch Trubisky and the Bears coaching staff keeps letting him get starts at center. We wrote that the Bears should have cut him this offseason. Still, he has been starting, and he has been an issue with multiple bad snaps and a couple of blown blocks in this game. With Nate Davis out, we may not have seen the last of Whitehair, either.
Cody Whitehair Grade: F
Dan Feeney: 2 snaps
Chicago Bears right guard
Nate Davis: 220 snaps
Primary matchups: Colby Wooden, Kenny Clark, Devonte Wyatt, Jonathan Harris, Zach Allen, Daron Payne, Jon Bullard, Harrison Phillips
Nate Davis was a disaster in week one, but he was dealing with a family issue. He missed a couple of weeks to deal with it, and when he came back in week four, he started to look better. In week five, he was at his best, and then in week six, he got hurt just ten snaps into the game. Reports are that this is an ankle injury, and now Davis will be out for three or four more weeks. So, we will be coming up on week 11, and Davis will have one really good game, one fine game, and one awful game under his belt with the Bears.
Nate Davis Grade: C
Ja'Tyre Carter: 159 snaps
Primary matchups: Vita Vea, Tershawn Wharton, Chris Jones, Dean Lowry, Jon Bullard, Harrison Phillips
Ja'Tyre Carter had his best game in week six. It may be because Jon Bullard, Harrison Phillips, and Dean Lowry are not the tests that Chris Jones and Vita Vea were, and it may be the experience, but either way, he looked confident. Expect him to start the next three games as well.
Ja'Tyre Carter Grade: C-
Chicago Bears right tackle
Darnell Wright: 379 snaps
Primary matchups: Lukas Van Ness, Kinglsey Enagbare, Rashan Gary, Shaq Barrett, Yaya Diaby, George Karlaftis, Nik Bonitto, Jonathan Cooper, Montez Sweat, Danielle Hunter
Not only is Darnell Wright the only position on the line where there have not been multiple starters due to an injury or poor play, but he also has faced a tough gauntlet of rushers. Rashan Gary, Shaq Barrett, George Karlaftis, Montez Sweat, and Danielle Hunter are on a list of big-time names.
No one is saying that Darnell Wright has handled it all with ease, and there have been ups and downs. However, compared to the rest of the line, and setting expectations that he is just a rookie, Bears fans have to be happy with his play.
Danielle Hunter beat him a few times, and it is clear that speed can get to Wright more than power in pass protection. However, a lot of the time the Vikings decided to blitz and force Wright to pick up an outside rusher to get Danielle Hunter matched up inside, or they would stunt Hunter to get him free. On the play where Hunter injured Justin Fields you have to blame Fields for holding the ball too long. Wright is meeting expectations against big names.
Darnell Wright grade: B+