Trading Places, Missing Pieces for Bears

Are the Bears setting up to trade some players with several key individuals missing minicamp?

The flaws in the current Bears offensive line became apparent on the very first day of minicamp, and no one even threw a block.

Players aren't allowed to wear pads or hit at these spring workouts but the Bears on the offensive line put out a lineup that showed the real dangerous situation they could be putting quarterback Justin Fields in this year.

The tackles were Larry Borom and Teven Jenkins, two slightly experienced second-year players. Except, Borom was playing left tackle after taking the large majority of his snaps on the right side. Jenkins was on the right side after playing left tackle last year.

It's not the only bit of experiementing on the line.

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At right guard James Daniels used to play, the Bears lined up former starting center Sam Mustipher. They have Lucas Patrick playing center now, so Mustipher has lost his starting spot. With Daniels gone in free agency, they moved Mustipher in at right guard as he did what many centers can do and play another interior line position.

The problem is, Mustipher isn't really built to play starting guard in the NFL. He's listed at 6-foot-2, 332 pounds but had bulked up greatly last year and now will be like most linemen and lose the weight in the new wide zone blocking scheme. The Bears also have Dakota Dozier on the roster, a starter for one season at guard for the Minnesota Vikings, but had Mustipher lined up there.

"We're looking at a lot of things right now," Eberflus said. "So you might see guys at a lot of different spots. So a guy could be playing X-receiver or Z-receiver or U-tight end or Y-tight end, left defensive end, right defensive end. We’re going to play with a lot of different combinations right now because we're just trying to figure out what guys do and what they do best.

"So you could see those guys (Jenkins and Borom) flip during OTAs. They could flip sides. So we're just looking to see what guys do best."

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By the way, since he brought it up, the X-receiver was Byron Pringle, the slot was 6-foot-5 Equanimeous St. Brown and the Z was Darnell Mooney at the spot where he usually plays. Newly acquired Ryan Griffin was lining up at the U-tight end with Cole Kmet at  his customary Y-tight end.

But the offensive line was the spot where the real weakness seemed to be. Finding a very good tackle in the draft or among the few remaining free agents might take care of this. Finding a starting right guard in the draft or free agency would, as well.

The holes they have here are very conspicuous. They drafted Jenkins in Round 2 last year and it's likely the former regime of Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace thought they were set at both tackle spots, but different coaches and GMs rate linemen for strengths and position fits differently.

It only served to underscore the need for offensive linemen early in the draft next week.

Beyond the position situations, Eberflus had to address players who were gone, period.

Safety Eddie Jackson, quarterback Nick Foles, defensive end Robert Quinn and defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr. were in absentia. It would be very easy to build up a trade scenario for draft day using three of those players.

Jackson would be a little more difficult because of his contract until next year, although the right team with the right amount of cap space could accomplish it.

But Foles was announced by GM Ryan Poles as a player who will be traded if possible at the owners meetings last month.

Quinn could easily be a player who is moved because of a contract friendly to this, although it would likely need to be a post-June 1 deal for the Bears to receive real cap savings.

Edwards also has a contract that if cut, could benefit the Bears' cap situation a bit.

But Eberflus wasn't sending anyone to the chopping block or trade market yet.

"Really, it's just like—I know you might have questions about this player, that player or guys who are out there, you saw guys who were in and out—that's part of this time of the year, you know," he said. "Guys have things that go on personally. They have things that go on. They're working on a part of their body, whatever, maybe they had an injury from the last season and maybe they're somewhere working on that."

That was happening with some players but they were present without being able to practice. Safety Dane Cruikshank, tight end Jesper Horsted and linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu were watching without practicing due to past injuries.

Jackson is the big question and with both him and Cruikshank gone it left only DeAndre Houston-Carson and a tryout player to fill the safety spots.

"Everybody's got their own story and that's not a big issue," Eberflus said. "Everybody's done a good job of communicating with us and they'll be here when they're here, and when they're here, they'll get good work."

As for the line experiments, expect they could go on until even the start of the regular season, Eberflus said.

"I think you want to push boundaries with players and say, OK, we're going to push you to this point or put you in a new spot and put you in a different way to see if you can do it. And then, yes, you can do it.

"Or, hey, it's a little bit of a struggle. Keep working at it. Keep working at it. Keep coaching him. And then he might get it. At whatever position. So I think you have to push them that way. Challenge 'em."

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven