2021 Chicago Bears Preview: Offensive Line

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: September 10, 2021

(Photo credit: Chicago Tribune)

After a 2020 season that presented numerous challenges due to injuries, Offensive Line Coach Juan Castillo has his hands full yet again. He had his work cut out for him as it was with the team drafting Teven Jenkins and Larry Borom and tasking Castillo with their development, but the task has grown even greater after injuries to both those guys plus a few others while the team is still in camp. More on that later. This space asserts that Castillo is more than capable of working with the hand he’s been dealt. From last year’s preview:

“Four out of Michigan’s five starting offensive linemen got drafted this year and the only reason Jalen Mayfield didn’t make it a clean sweep was that he wasn’t eligible. He has already declared for the 2021 Draft, where he is drawing 1st-round hype after a strong performance against 2020 number 2 overall pick Chase Young. Wolverines Offensive Line Coach Ed Warinner deserves the lion’s share of the credit for that, but Castillo still played a sizable role.”

The events of the last year have led your author to conclude that it’s Castillo that deserves the credit for that Michigan O-line. He cobbled together not total disaster units out of the offensive lineman equivalent of tin cans and duct tape, meanwhile Warinner’s unit in Ann Arbor struggled, leading Jim Harbaugh to move on from him. After he was let go by the Wolverines, Warinner was in such high demand that he ended up at Florida Atlantic. Long story short, mea culpa, Juan.

Jason Peters comes to Chicago as a late addition. That the Bears are looking to a 39-year-old with a long injury history to stabilize their O-line situation should tell you all you need to know about said situation. Peters missed eight games last year with a foot injury. In the eight he was healthy, he was okay, earning a 67.6 grade from Pro Football Focus. I know, I know – it’s PFF, but offensive line is one of a handful of spots where their grades are legit enough that your author feels confident enough in them to cite them. In 2019, Peters earned an 82.3 grade from the site and made it through 13 games. If the Bears can get something close to that, this will go down as one of Ryan Pace’s best signings. It’s not impossible – Peters is already familiar with the Bears’ brand of offense and has worked with Juan Castillo before. If nothing else, here’s hoping the Bears can get enough out of him to buy some time to get Larry Borom ready.

Teven Jenkins was drafted in the second round this year out of Oklahoma State, a move that didn’t generate quite as much fanfare from the fan base as the Justin Fields move, because obviously, but it got about as close as you can get for an offensive lineman. Your author had a mid-1st round grade on Jenkins in possibly the most talented offensive tackle class he’s ever seen. In lesser years, Jenkins may have gone in the top 10. Brett Kollman called him “the most violent man in college football.”

Jenkins played mostly right tackle as a Cowboy (not that kind of Cowboy), but the plan initially in Chicago was to move him to the left side. In his pre-draft evaluation of Jenkins, your author was confident that he could handle such a move, but alas, the process has been delayed by a lingering back issue that we now know will require surgery. The Bears hope to get Jenkins back this season, but we’re talking likely November at the earliest, with the possibility that the kid may miss his rookie season altogether. The silver lining here is that the long-term prognosis looks good – the issue isn’t expected to linger once Jenkins has the surgery.

The Bears drafted Larry Borom out of Missouri in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. At the time, your author believed him to be just a depth guy capable of playing both guard and tackle if need be. Bears coaches were higher on him. Head Coach Matt Nagy, via the Bears’ official website:

“’We had second- and third-round grades on Larry Borom,’ Nagy said. ‘We didn’t have fifth-round grades on him. We got him in the fifth, so that’s how we feel about him. He gets an opportunity; he went out there and took advantage of it—for one day. Can you be consistent with that? That’s going to be how we evaluate.’”

And now, let’s play everyone’s favorite game: “Let’s Decipher Some Coachspeak!” If Nagy’s quote wasn’t enough, Castillo was also effusive in his praise of the former Tiger. Sean Hammond of Shaw Local via SportsMockery:

“’[Teven Jenkins] was already in a pretty good place,’ Castillo said. ‘So that part I’m not really worried about. It’s just the thing is now, now you’ve got to come in and compete with Larry because Larry’s playing well. Elijah [Wilkinson]’s still in there, so there’s some good competition there.’”

The fact that Elijah Wilkinson was mentioned as someone Teven Jenkins would have had to compete with were it not for needing surgery earns this 9 smoke blows out of 10. Elijah Wilkinson was signed to be a depth piece and there’s no reason to think he’s going to be anything else after being very meh in Denver. Think Germain Ifedi, but without the “former first-round pick” bit to make you think there may be something in there. Nine smoke blows out of ten means there’s a one-in-ten chance that what they’re saying is legit, though, and that appears to be the case here as the Bears plan to let Borom compete with Ifedi for the starting right tackle job.

Germain Ifedi returns after a year in which he was generally at least serviceable and sometimes even actually good. Your author’s Welcome post cautioned against expecting much from the former first-round pick:

“Ifedi was drafted 31st overall out of Texas A&M by the Seahawks in 2016. Starting his career at guard, he missed the first three games of his rookie season with an ankle injury. He made his debut in week 4 of the 2016 season and has only missed one game since. Hey, the best ability is availability, right? The saying definitely rings true for Ifedi, as the rest of his abilities leave quite a bit to be desired. As he is an offensive lineman, I have no stats to cite, but I can tell you that his tape shows more than a few missed blocks. As a tackle, he especially struggled protecting the edge, but that’s not overly concerning as the Bears intend to use him inside. He generally at least knows who he should be blocking, which would be an upgrade over Coward, but your author cautions against expecting much more than that. He should be capable and earn a new deal with the team after the conclusion of this initial 1-year agreement, but do not expect him to turn into a Pro Bowl all of a sudden.”

Ifedi started all 16 games last year and was even okay when asked to play tackle. That he was even that good is a testament to Castillo’s proficiency. Ifedi starts out camp on the PUP list with a hip flexor injury suffered during his conditioning test.

Cody Whitehair returns, this time at left guard. The Bears tried moving Whitehair to guard before, and while Whitehair seemed more natural there, the team didn’t like the results of a position swap with James Daniels enough to keep things that way. Last season, though, Sam Mustipher emerged at center, thus allowing Whitehair to slide over to guard. In the four games he played at guard when he moved over late last year, he earned grades of +9, +15.5, +6, and +7.5. A year ago, he finished fifth in your author’s Stars of the Game race. Given a full season at a more natural position, that standing could easily improve this year.

Sam Mustipher is the living embodiment of Juan Castillo’s awesomeness. Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2019, at the time, your author saw no NFL future for him and figured that this was nothing more than his former college offensive line coach doing him a solid. Said former OL coach was rightfully canned a year ago, but Mustipher remained. And once he got a shot, he proved to be a capable center. While he’s not the strongest lineman in the world, he knows how to handle the center position and at center, brains can make up for a lack of brawn. Given an off-season to address the brawn part, Mustipher came to camp bulked up and thus far has looked capable of holding his own against big nose tackles, the one major thing his game was lacking a year ago.

James Daniels returns after a pec injury shortened his 2020. Unfortunately, he would end up missing time in camp with a quad injury. He’ll be ready to go to start the season, where we’ll hopefully see the same strong play we saw last year before the injury. Daniels will be on the right side instead of the left this year, but your author does not envision that move being too daunting for the former Hawkeye. Reports from camp prior to the quad injury were quite positive.

Alex Bars figures to make the team as a depth guy capable of playing multiple positions. Save for left tackle, he theoretically could play anywhere on the line (and they even tried him at LT in camp when they were dealing with a bunch of injuries), but “could” does not equal “should” here. In a lone start at center a year ago, your author graded him -20. Granted, that was a game against the Titans where nobody looked good, but if the Bears need someone to play center, your author would much rather turn to Whitehair or Daniels and insert Bars at guard, where he’s looked at least competent since signing as a UDFA in 2019.

Twitter: @KSchroeder_312