For those of you who hate the offensive line

[Gustavus Adolphus]

He's one of the most respected offensive line evaluators on the web.

Brandon Thorn | Twitter, Instagram, Facebook | Linktree

Creator of the Trench Warfare Newsletter OL/DL analyst, writer and scout

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Why didn't you include the second tweet?

 

[KittiesKorner]

You should have tried monetizing your cold diarrhea takes… oh wait

 

[NCChiFan]

Braxton Jones we had last year, hell we drafted him. He's overperformed for where he was drafted and is adequate, but not top tier. We could use an upgrade there and he would be a beautiful depth tackle.

Nate Davis underperformed in every way last year. His mom died, so he gets a bit of a pass on it, but then you'd expect him to come in this year roaring to prove himself, but instead he has barely done shit.

Center we got 2 people in who are 2nd - 3rd tier centers where we are gambling on "improvement"

Only Teven Jenkins has shown that he's a beast regularly.
And Darnell Wright has had enough of an upward curve to feel good about his development pattern.

but okay, my opinion is invalid and I don't keep up with the news because you say so.

Anyways, yes. you are correct in that it IS the most CLEAR example of a "wait and see" situation. Because we can still hope Nate Davis shows up and at least one of those centers can play.

Any of the new Centers picked up are an upgrade to what the Bears fielded last season. Sadly, not saying much, but it is something.

 

[iueyedoc]

Nice right around the top 20! Bears inching closer to league average

Top 20 might be a bit rich, but I will go out on a limb and absolutely guarantee top 32, ban bets welcome.

 

[Noonthirtyjoe]

How good your Oline is is dependent on how fast your QB can get rid of the ball. Fields was league worst. With this set of WRs our QB should have guys open quickly. If CW can get it out on time then our Oline will look good.

 

[hebs]

I do very much dislike this OL, and want to see the interior hold up before I hold out any hope for it. The line flat out stunk too often last year and replaced exactly one starter. But let's take it at face value: Spending the first overall pick on QB has given this league the following in the past ten years: Bryce Young, Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, Jameis Winston. Who among them had good OLs as a rookie?

As far as the entire surrounding cast goes, yeah that is inarguable. The last time a top 10 QB was drafted to a team with a set of WRs like this was what, Leinart? Anybody have a better memory and wants to throw out a name?

@DanielCCSBears - To tie this tweet in, what of those teams who drafted QB at 1OA had set those QBs up for success as rookies? Do you really think that that is a fair measuring stick?

Culpepper came in and had Moss and Carter. (But he was #11 overall)

 

[bears5150]

If you have a good OLineman you don't trade him away or let him walk as a Free Agent, but somehow Bears fans feel that castaways from other teams will make this OL a top 10 unit.

 

[gallagher]

Culpepper came in and had Moss and Carter. (But he was #11 overall)

I was convinced at some point during that 2000 season that the Vikings were going to dominate for a decade. I had to look it up - Culpepper sat his rookie year and that was his first year as a starter.

And then the wheels came off

 

[Discus fish salesman]

If you have a good OLineman you don't trade him away or let him walk as a Free Agent, but somehow Bears fans feel that castaways from other teams will make this OL a top 10 unit.

Trent Williams, who is widely viewed as the best LT in the league, was traded

 

[Black Rainbow]

Trent Williams, who is widely viewed as the best LT in the league, was traded

He's 35.

 

[playthrough2001]

Culpepper came in and had Moss and Carter. (But he was #11 overall)

Robert Smith was on that team and had a combined yardage total that exceeded 1,800.

He scored 10 TDs.

 

[Myk]

Any of the new Centers picked up are an upgrade to what the Bears fielded last season. Sadly, not saying much, but it is something.

Centers who are actually centers is a big step up like we haven't had since Kreutz.
An OT who is drafted where an OT should be is a big step up.

If you have a good OLineman you don't trade him away or let him walk as a Free Agent, but somehow Bears fans feel that castaways from other teams will make this OL a top 10 unit.

So Sweat isn't good, he's just a castaway? Swift and Allen, just castaways when a month ago they were GOATs who were the excuse to go all defense in the draft?

In the situations for the Centers you do let them go. You don't pay backups the big bucks because they showed they are able to be starters. When someone offers you a pick you take it and try to find another unknown.
This is the type of stuff the Bears need to learn by watching other teams.
They may not be great ones but they are steps up from where we were.

It would've been better to get a center in the '23 draft but that would likely be a same unanswered question and we'd still be waiting to see. And the way it played out for the '23 Centers on other teams with injuries it is certainly not a hind sight gotcha yet.

 

[Anytime23]

How good your Oline is is dependent on how fast your QB can get rid of the ball. Fields was league worst. With this set of WRs our QB should have guys open quickly. If CW can get it out on time then our Oline will look good.

Wait until the Bears finally have a great QB and you guys realize that bad OL still exist.

 

[SlickWilly]

Robert Smith was on that team and had a combined yardage total that exceeded 1,800.

He scored 10 TDs.

If his first few seasons weren’t injury riddled he’d have had a much better career. Underrated RB.

 

[msadows]

The OL is solid, CCS is just dumb and you are part of the dumb.

Everyone besides center is solid or better. Center may be solid too but bates is a massive question mark. Still better to have a question than a known bum like whitehair.

Fans(in general) just dont have the time to watch other teams games, much less their OL's. The only fan I know of who has time to watch 50 NFL games a week and neglect his family is @DanielCCSBears

 

[msadows]

I keep tellin people if the oline/center can actually develop a pocket for the QB to step into the tackles will be lightyears better.

Hard to play tackle when the interior collapses every play and the DT's are pushing the QB directly towards the guy you're suppose to block.

 

[dabears70]

I keep tellin people if the oline/center can actually develop a pocket for the QB to step into the tackles will be lightyears better.

Hard to play tackle when the interior collapses every play and the DT's are pushing the QB directly towards the guy you're suppose to block.

I think the starting OL we have now would be just fine, and even better than fine, if we could just have Jenkins and Davis stay healthy and build some continuity across the entire OL which i couldn't even tell you the last time we had that.

Ryan Bates interests me because the guy has the tape with the Bills that shows he's a really good starter at G and C but we just haven't seen enough of it with him only really playing when they had injuries and he would only play until those players got back healthy. It'll be interesting to see if Poles wanted him so bad to start at C or does Poles really want him to take the place of Jenkins or Davis at G in 2025.

 

[Forty-six]

To me, the offensive line is the key to the entire season. If they can be average to slightly above average there is enough talent on both sides of the ball for the Bears to be playoff bound. If the O-line is a disaster (like last year) then it's going to be a disappointing season and we won't get a true measure of what Caleb can do.

I like Jenkins and Wright a lot. Durability is obviously an issue for Jenkins. I don't know enough about Bates to form an opinion on him but he HAS to be better than what we fielded at C last year, right? This is a huge year for Davis and Jones. They need to step up and perform.

Poles is a smart guy and my guess is he will draft O-line and D-line help with our first 3 picks in next year's draft (a first and two seconds). We need more talent and depth on the O-line.

 

[Myk]

I keep tellin people if the oline/center can actually develop a pocket for the QB to step into the tackles will be lightyears better.

Hard to play tackle when the interior collapses every play and the DT's are pushing the QB directly towards the guy you're suppose to block.

OT's still need to work or you have an interior that stands their ground and OTs that get pushed into the QB like with Leno and Massie.
Either way it equals no pocket.

 

[bamainatlanta]

I was convinced at some point during that 2000 season that the Vikings were going to dominate for a decade. I had to look it up - Culpepper sat his rookie year and that was his first year as a starter.

And then the wheels came off

Culpepper is easily one of the most overrated QB’s this century. People talk about him like he was some sort of generational talent. He had one elite season and 2 really good seasons and a whole bunch of shit. For those that love QB W-L records, he was like 40-60 or something close to that.