Tackle High on Bears Priority List

Assistant GM Ian Cunningham says the Bears are evaluating the first-round selections and how they could produce a starter afterward.

The world does not end for the Bears offense if they take a position other than tackle in the first round on Thursday night.

It might not even end for Justin Fields.

There are pass blockers for Fields they could find after Round 1 at tackle, although assistant GM Ian Cunningham admits the group at the top is fairly well publicized for a reason.

"I feel like the Day 1 group, all the household names, everybody knows, there's a lot of: This guy can play left tackle, this guy can play right tackle, there's players that have played both left tackle and right tackle, there's players that have played, also, inside," Cunningham said Tuesday. "And then, there's players that you kind of project inside. Or they can play outside."

The tackle who has also played inside at one point is Ohio State's Paris Johnson Jr. The one who gets projected inside is tackle Peter Skoronski from Northwestern, because of shorter arms. The pure right tackle is Tennessee's Darnell Wright, although he has played a little left tackle. The left tackle who projects to right tackle is Jones, as a power blocker.

"But then if you trickle down, I think you get a lot of that similar skillset, but maybe not the top-tier athleticism," Cunningham said. "But you feel comfortable with it.

"We were able to take Braxton (Jones) last year in the fifth, and when you have a guy like Chris Morgan—who I think is one of the better offensive line coaches in the league and one of the best teachers in the league at the position—you feel comfortable with some of those guys.”

The next group down includes Oklahoma's Anton Harrison, Ohio State's massive Dawand Jones, Syracuse's Matthew Bergeron and then North Dakota State's Cody Mauch, who almost universally is projected at tackle.

Anton Harrison, Oklahoma (LT #71)
-Looks the part
-Lineman posture
-Wins run blocking position/leverage w/ time to peek at RB
-Strong outside hand leverage & torque
-Smooth, balanced kick slides
-Calculates angles well in pass pro
-Plays on the in soles of his feet
-Mirrors… pic.twitter.com/RL6ZEZnzPh

— Erik Turner Cover 1 (@ErikJTurner) April 26, 2023

It might be easier to project who the Bears would pick by looking at what they value in this position.

"I think first you can say the size and athleticism and his competitive spirit, how he plays down in and down out," Cunningham said. "I think growing up in Baltimore (Ravens front office), we had some really good players there and really good tackles. That's kind of where I cut my teeth and kind of learned how to evaluate.

North Dakota State has a strong record of producing NFL-quality OL (Volson, Radunz, Haeg, Turner).

But LT Cody Mauch #70 might be the best of the group. Outstanding feet for 300+ lbs (former TE). Fierce hands. Maneuvers really well block-to-block. pic.twitter.com/0mxOY5yvnT

— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) October 26, 2022

"A lot of those guys which we played with there were kind of cut from that similar cloth."

If they took one early, Cunningham said it's even possible they would draft another one.

"I don't think that that would preclude us from taking a shot on a guy (tackle) later if we took a (tackle) early, either," Cunningham said. "I think you just weigh where you're at on the board and where other players are on the board and you have those internal discussions and we've had some of those internal discussions already."

Like Cunningham, Poles' expertise is offensive line because he played the position. Kansas City had strong offensive lines during his time there and not all the tackles came from Round .

"The proof is in the pudding," said Cunningham, who also played in Philadelphia. "Just in terms of some of the places in which we have been or I've been.

"We had some pretty good offensive linemen. In Philly, I think we were able to draft Landon Dickerson and Jordan Mailata, Jack Driscoll. I think there is one other. We had some pretty good offensive linemen, but in all reality, Stout (Jeff Stoutland) is a heck of an offensive line coach, so it's not our doing, it's really Stout."

The Bears think they have the same type of help available for tackles taken early or late in Morgan, who helped their line's run blocking enough so they vaulted from 14th in rushing to first.

"Obviously playing the position helps just in terms of you know what is asked of those guys, and again I feel like when you have a guy like Chris Morgan and you have the confidence in him and his development of players, you feel comfortable taking a player that you know has some upside because he is going to get the most out of him," Cunningham said.

So it comes down to taking the obvious talent in Round 1 or making their own tackle from a pick later, relying on Morgan to develop them quickly.

They just saw how well it worked with Jones, who made the Pro Football Focus all-rookie team as a fifth rounder and had PFF's highest grade for a 2022 rookie tackle.

They've gone through potential situations and what they'd do if one tackle was available and not another, or one player at another position was available and what they could do at tackle if they had to wait.

"Yeah, I think that's what we're still working through," Cunningham said. "We're always using as many scenarios as we can. You try to put yourself in the worst-case position and what that looks like, and you feel comfortable with the decisions in which we'll ultimately make by putting ourselves in the worst-case situation.

"But again, we'll have to wait until Thursday to see."

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