Could Bears Roll Out New Right Guard?

Teven Jenkins would seem like an ideal candidate for right guard if he's not able to crack the top five as a tackle but coach Matt Eberflus said a final decision on line spots for start of training camp could come from a Thursday meeting.

If there is a big switch coming on the Bears offensive line, it could be cemented after Thursday's final minicamp practice.

For now, it doesn't appear there is a plan to move Teven Jenkins from tackle to right guard.

"Yeah, so Teven right now is at the right tackle and that's what he's focusing on," Bears coach Matt Eberflus said.

However, there is this meeting scheduled with GM Ryan Poles when mminicamp ends.

"We'll have a big meeting tomorrow with Ryan and his staff, with all of the coaches just to reassess the whole roster before the players and the coaches go on break," Bears coach Matt Eberflus said Wednesday. "That will be a real good meeting for us and we'll see where he is from there."

Whether it could mean Jenkins moving remains to be seen, but it would be hard not to see him among the five best offensive linemen based on talent level.

"Like we said (Tuesday), there could be switches after this segment of the offseason leading into training camp," Eberflus said. "So we're just taking it day by day."

Jenkins did start at right guard for Oklahoma State, but that was only two games and it came when he was a redshirt freshman. The rest of his career included 33 starts at left or right tackle.

No one with the Bears has made it clear why 2021 fifth-round pick Larry Borom is playing right tackle with starters at the moment and was at left tackle before rookie Braxton Jones was given a look there the past two weeks. Borom did get more experience last year than Jenkins, who missed the first 12 games after back surgery.

It's possible they consider Jenkins more of a guard based on physical traits like hand size. 

Scouts like tackles with big hands and long reaches since they have to stretch out after edge rushers. Jenkins has 9 1/2-inch hands, according to measurements from the NFL combine on mockdraftable.com, and that was better than only 12% of the tackles in the 2021 draft. Borom has 10 3/8-inch hands and that was better than 79% of all linemen in his draft class.

The two have similar reaches at 33 1/2 inches for Jenkins and 33 1/8 for Borom, but neither were close to Jones, who has an arm length of 35-3/8 inches, better than all but 8% of the linemen in his draft class.

The Bears like mobile linemen for their wide zone scheme. 

Borom isn't slow, at 5.15 seconds in the 40, and his 20-yards split of 2.9 seconds was in the top 19% of his draft class. But one of Jenkins' big strengths is his speed with a 5.01-second 40. It was in the top 9% for tackles, and his 36 reps on the bench press was in the top 4%.

Since there will be no workouts until training camp, the Bears will apparently leave this one hanging until late July.

Sam Mustipher has been playing right guard and battling Dakota Dozier all offseason, but Jenkins has more guard experience than Mustipher, who has never played it. Dozier now has an injury so severe he was carted off the field Tuesday. Mustipher played right guard with starters on Wednesday.

Another guard played with starters Wednesday, rookie Zachary Thomas. But that was at left guard and only because Cody Whitehair had an excused absence.

"I thought he did nice in terms of functioning in there," Eberflus said. "I didn't see a lot of mental errors. I'm sure he was excited to be in there. I thought he did a nice job."

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven