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Positional Draft Strength Makes Braxton Jones' Bears Comeback Essential

Tackle talent and depth for this year's draft is expected to be very mediocre, and as a result the Bears' 2022 fifth-round pick might be their last, best hope.
Gene Chamberlain|
Alabama's Kadyn Proctor runs through on-field drills at the NFL scouting combine.
Alabama's Kadyn Proctor runs through on-field drills at the NFL scouting combine. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

At the owners meetings, Bears coach Ben Johnson painted an uncertain picture about the left tackle position beyond even the fact that starter Ozzy Trapilo may miss the entire season.

Trapilo's inability to return until later in the 2026 season was already known, as both GM Ryan Poles and Johnson had already said this injury would keep him out wlll into the season. The difference now is Johnson made it sound even more likely they could be without Trapilo all season.

Either way, they do have one extra option now to fill the spot with free agent acquisition Jedrick Wills, and this wasn't a signing like when they picked up former first-round pick Alex Leatherwood from waivers. Wills has already had some success, although limited. It was earlier in his career as a pass blocker, and before his own knee injury.

More importantly, Braxton Jones has also impressed them with his commitment to being in excellent shape. This is important because Jones finished 2024 with his own injury that was more severe than the team initially thought. As a result, he had no real offseason opportunity to improve his actual skill level for 2025 because he was rehabbing.

Although Jones finished last year on injured reserve with a knee sprain, it wasn't a serious injury and he'll be able to commit to working with the team on-field during OTAs. It can make all the difference in the world because Jones had been graded as 42nd, 31st and then 17th in the league by Pro Football Focus as a pass blocker in his first three seasons before his ankle injury. He was never ranked worse than 32nd as a run blocker and as high as 10th as a rookie.

Tackl picture for draft bleak

Nevertheless, it's not surprising Poles was at Alabama's pro day and closely looking at Kadyn Proctor, the massive Crimson Tide left tackle. They need to know all of their options, but Poctor is coming off what has been described by NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein as a "highly uneven season in pass protection."

Proctor's chances of stepping right in and starting on Day 1 do not look good from this standpoint, and it's even uncertain he would be available at No. 25 to the Bears as an athletic 6-foot-7, 357-pound monstrosity. Big guys attract crowds even when there are questions.

"If there's a tackle or a defensive tackle or a (defensive) end, I think we can go any direction we need to and stay true to that and feel pretty good about it," was how Ben Johnson put it at the owners meetings for reporters. "To give you clarity, its hard to say right now what that left tackle spot's going to look like this year or five years from now."

Waiting into Round 2 or 3 to find a starting option is always possible. They did this with Trapilo and couldn't have been more pleased with the result, until the devastating knee injury in the playoffs.

The problem with waiting until Round 2 or later is that position usually requires the best possible players and this year's tackle crop is not what recent drafts have been.

Zierlein's assessment of the tackle position is bleak in this regard. Of all the 11 position groups, Zierlein has tackle rated eighth out of 11. The group is not even eighth overall but tied for eighth.

Ben Zolak of ESPN ranks the tackle position seventh overall. Zolak's assessment was "Good year to need ... a starter for 2027. Bad year to need ... a starter for 2026."

In other words, there is raw talent but not a group of guys screaming "play me now."

"Caleb Lomu (Utah), Monroe Freeling (Georgia) and Max Iheanachor (Arizona State) all have talent but are less polished than teams might like," Zierlein wrote. "There is an adequate number of starting-caliber bookends available early, but it becomes highly speculative for teams hunting quality depth by the middle of the third round."

The Bears are essentially at the point where it's Jones, Wills or possibly Theo Benedet as their left tackle starter in 2026.

They could always have some ace up their sleeve to play in the form of a later-round pick they have "discovered" more or less. It's not to say this is impossible, just improbable.

Still, when Poles found Jones in Round 5, Zierlein had the tackle position rated fourth best for talent in that draft. Now they're graded twice as low. It will be anything but easy for the Bears to root out an immediate Trapilo replacement if Jones fails to come through.

Ultimately, you might even be looking at Joe Thuney as the opening day starter at left tackle.

That could be a tremendous misuse of a four-time All-Pro guard who turns 34 this season, and even a dangerous move considering how often the Bears wound up with left tackles going on injured reserve in recent seasons.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

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.

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