Look I like the Moore acquisition but it’s plain as day that teams that want to pass the ball effectively and often have a good OL. It’s as simple as that.
Bears signed a career long RG and it’s not clear what this means for the only above average lineman on the team in revenue Jenkins.
Borom is not starter quality and was regularly outplayed by reif. Whitehair is coming off a knee injury and is older. Lucas Patrick has done nothing of value at this point and was absolutely miserable last season.
Braxton jones played great for a 5th rounder, if he builds on his season from last year that is a huge win, but it’s a big ask for a second year player that legitimately could not stop a single bull rush from any rusher. Wait and see with this one imo.
Poles did nothing of significance to address the line and even if he drafts a tackle at pick 9 I’d expect the early season to be a struggle. The offense is going to be much of the same in that they likely struggle to pass whenever it’s obvious passing down or when they NEED to.
From my armchair GM perspective I viewed this offseason as 2 things being critical to accomplish: Improving WR and OL. The reason being that developing Fields and evaluating him should be the priority in 2023 imo. Improving the defense is important, but a more patient approach can be taken.
I didn't have high expectations for improving WR given the options, but Poles found a way to bring in a young WR1 on a good contract, from a team who is looking to draft a QB. That was a huge win and completely unexpected for me.
The argument could be made that the addition of Nate Davis improves the entire interior of the OL. It remains to be seen who will play where, but an interior OL of Davis/Whitehair/Jenkins seems to be a big improvement over Whitehair/Mustipher/Jenkins. It's reasonable to expect Jones to show significant improvement this upcoming season as well.
That leaves RT as the big area of concern, and it is concerning. I expect Poles to find a way to solidify RT in the draft and/or other means by the time the season starts. Maybe they should have been willing to overpay for McGlinchey, but I hear he is an average pass protector. I assume Poles had a plan B once the McGlinchey contract got too big, and they feel confident that their plan B can achieve at least a similar pass protection option at RT. Finding an average pass blocking RT seems achievable (protecting Fields is priority over run blocking). Plan B could be via the draft or trade.
They likely look to add a C in the draft as well, and with Poles pulling a rabbit out of his hat to nab a WR1, I'm not panicking on the lack of a RT at this point in the offseason either.