Bear Digest

Consider Caleb Williams protected say Ben Johnson and Ryan Poles

Chicago Bears coach and GM see offensive linemen as the right blend of physicality and intelligence to execute a variety of blocking schemes.

Gene Chamberlain

Jonah Jackson (left) and Joe Thuney say they're ready to bring a physical presence to the Bears' offensive front.
Jonah Jackson (left) and Joe Thuney say they're ready to bring a physical presence to the Bears' offensive front. / Chicago Bears On SI Photo: Gene Chamberlain
In this story:

LAKE FOREST — Consider the line of scrimmage a little different now for the Bears, particularly on offense.

Bolstering both sides of the sagging line was the goal for coach Ben Johnson and GM Ryan Poles going into free agency and they appear ready to move on to the draft and other concerns now after the trades for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and signings of center Drew Dalman, defensive end Oday Odeyingbo and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett addressed their pressing needs.

"This really opens the whole board for us," Poles said. "We're going to be able to sit back and kind of look and say, what's the best thing to do for the Chicago Bears and who's the best player that can impact.

"We've got some tough decisions and a lot of film to watch between now and the draft."

The interior war between guards and three-technique defensive tackles was lost last year by the Bears whether they were blocking the run or the pass. They were 25th in rushing and allowed more sacks than any team with 68, while finishing 28th defending the run.

Two guards who made the Pro Bowl lets them achieve a goal of using several different style blocking schemes and helps open the running game.

"We really prioritized guys that are going to win one-on-one battles with the three-technique (defensive tackle), and we feel like both these guys are capable of that,” Johnson said.

Jackson's 2024 season in Los Angeles was largely a lost year because he had a shoulder injury and was asked to play center when he hadn't expected it. He'll play right guard now, a position he played against the Bears in his first NFL game before moving to the left side.

"So, just started off a little bit choppy, but when you go back and see when he was in Detroit, shoot, I can go all the way back to Rutgers when I watched him, the guy is made of the right stuff," Poles said about Jackson. "And he's capable of really helping us up front anchoring, but also getting push in the run game."

Jackson sees it as critical to keep Caleb Williams clean of pass rushers after seeing what happened in his rookie year and the effect of all the sacks.

"I'd say, you know, for any quarterback, you've seen what happened last year," Jackson said. "He'd taken a lot of hits. You gotta build confidence in a young guy like that, in any quarterback, honestly.

"I feel like that’s something we’re able to bring to the table. I’ve seen a lot of tape of (Thuney) doing great work protecting Pat (Mahomes). That’s just part of our job."

Thuney also protected a pretty fair QB in New England named Tom Brady.

"I've been fortunate to watch Tom and Pat and just be in the huddle with them and see how they approach the day to day, the boring things that seem boring and repetitious but they still attack them with the same intensity and they just know the playbook inside and out and they really have such a passion for the game," Thuney said. "I’m just excited to work with Caleb. I’ve heard great things about him and just ready to get going."

Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett played against Dalman daily in Atlanta practices.

"I mean, working against him in Atlanta, he was so smart, and he had some great guys working with him as well, but to see his growth as a rookie to where he’s come now, I mean, the dude is a beast," Jarrett said of the fifth-year center. "I'm happy that he's gonna be here and I think he's gonna bring a lot to this team."

Intelligence was critical in what they saw in both of the guards, as well.

"Yeah, I mean, the intelligence factor is a major portion of it because they got to be able to handle different fronts for all these variety of (blocking) schemes that we would like to employ," Johnson said. "End of the day, we'll push this thing as far as we feel the collective group can handle up front. And that's where the intelligence is so, so, important to expand on that variety.

"If we get really good at particular type of blocks, that's what we're going to feature. So we're not going to try to do something that doesn't make sense, but we have two extremely well rounded individuals here. Feel really good about (tackles) Darnell (Wright), Braxton (Jones), the rest of the group that's in that room right now and how that thing could look in terms of the combinations getting movement at the line of scrimmage, playing on the defense’s line, side of the ball, and that's particularly for the run game. Up front, though, in the passing game, we have to be better from a pass protection standpoint. We really prioritized guys that are going to win one-on-one battles with the three-technique, and we feel like both these guys are capable of that.”

Toughness, perhaps more than anything else, was what they sought in their blockers. The Bears had too many games where they were blown off the line of scrimmage in Poles' first three years as GM.

"Yeah, we want some tough, some gritty, some dirty individuals and we feel pretty good about the two guys we got (at guard)," Johnson said. "Smart is a word that comes to mind, particularly with the interior players. We would love to have some versatility to our scheme, some multiplicity if you will. We got a couple guys in the building now that we feel strongly can handle a variety of different concepts and schemes that we might want to employ each and every week.

"Beyond that, their play speaks for themselves in terms of what the tape says. The character, the integrity, it's top notch. I can speak first-hand with Jonah and Ryan can speak first-hand with Joe (from KC). I am really, really excited to get these guys in the room combined with the coaches that we've already put together for that room. I feel really good about the style of play we'll have this year."

More Chicago Bears News

X: BearsOnSI

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.