Welcome to the Wednesday Waiver where I'll look at the Bears roster and identify any potential changes and make (probably wrong) predictions.
The biggest question going into 2024 is the O-Line. Our greatest asset is Caleb Williams and the Bears cannot have a repeat of 2021 which saw rookie Justin Fields as the second MOST sacked QB in the league. Per Team Rankings Fields was sacked 3.4 times per game (Cincy was dead last at 3.5) for a total sacks per year of 36 per the NFL website. The league average that year was 2.3 sacks per game. Yikes. While the argument could be made that Field's constant scrambling and long time holding the ball contributed to the sack fest - its no secret that the O-Line was sub-par.
The stars of the current tackle lineup are RT Darnell Wright which PFF has ranked as a top 5 tackle, LT Braxton Jones at 30, and LT Larry Borom 35 - which baring injury it is likely Borom jumps rookie Kiran Amegadjie as the seconday LT. Kiran is a rookie. I'm happy with the tackle positions going into 2024, I would not make any changes here.
The guards leave less to be excited about with RG Nate Davis being a top 50 guard per PFF and yeah, thats about it. As much as I like LG Teven Jenkins he hardly plays enough to inspire any confidence, and the rest of the lineup (Ryan Bates, Ja'Tyre Carter, and Bill Murray) are questionable at best, we'll see come training camp and Hard Knocks. If I could make an improvement it would be at the guard position. These are the interior protection positions for Caleb Williams and he has to be better protected than Fields was. Granted, the cap space only has $22M left for the Chicago Bears and contracts are set.
Its hard not to predict that Teven Jenkins will (knock on wood) be injured this year. Do I want Jenkins injured? No, but when is he not? This hypothetical would be the time to bring in a veteran like Kevin Dotson who is asking for $20M - just under the $22M cap. A lot can change(the cap, injuries, etc), but, I would be shocked if Ryan Poles doesn't have Dotson in his mind in case of injury in the preseason (assuming Dotson is still available).
The current center for me is Coleman Shelton who PFF has ranked as a top 50 center. He'll be battling Ryan Bates for the starting job but I would be surprised if he lost out. No hard feelings Ryan. Coleman is a proven center who can identify blitzes well. Is he a little slow to move? Sure, but what 6'4" 285LB man isn't? Also would you trust any of our other guards in the most valuable position for protecting Caleb Williams?
Training camp has just started and its a decent O-Line on the outlook. I can't see the Bears making any meaningful additions to the O-Line unless there's a serious injury out the gate, which we never want or wish for to happen. My prediction for starters are LT Braxton Jones, LG Ryan Bates, C Coleman Shelton, RG Nate Davis, and RT Darnell Wright. Good luck Caleb.
Given the lack of bench strength at QB, not crazy to assume Williams is the starter Day 1. That draws in the hope that doing so doesn't mirror how being the starter Day after being the #1 pick (and having a Heisman Trophy) went for Bryce Young and the Panthers. This isn't about comparing Bryce to Caleb, more about what looks to be a similar path. You have two #1 picks with a room in the Heisman House on teams with a weak QB bench leading to being Day 1 starters in consecutive years.
Heading into the 2023 season, depending on the source, the Panthers O-line ranked mediocre at best which is where their projections are landing for 2024 so…