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I doubt Braxton because he isnt sturdy or large in his base. He moves well laterally, and can ride rushers out, but when they bullrush him, he doesnt get his butt down, and he's not strong in his base, dropping anchor. One point for hope for Braxton is that Roushar had a similar LT in New Orleans, Armistead I think his name was? ANyway he was a similar player, and Roushar taught him to drop anchor better, et his butt down, and he became an All Pro player. Hopefully if Braxton is the choice at LT, he can teach him that. As to Braxton being a '3 year starter' it's true, but on a terrible offensive line, and he did get ridden back in the QB a lot. I just dont think hes up to the level of the others. But if he plays well, and wins the spot, then GREAT. But there's a reason they picked Amagadje in the 3rd round last year, and Trapilo again in the 2nd round this year. They wouldn't have done that if they were all in on Braxton Jones.

totally agree with you. and I do expect more trickery and fun stuff for sure.

For sure, all we know, from other teams, is that Poles was inquiring about the price to trade up. We can't know who he was thinking of taking had the price been right. Probably Banks at 3 LOL or Jeanty We did hear from Courtney Cronin, that the Bears has Jeanty above either OT and Loveland though, so it's not that hard to put together.

Every GM checks out all scenarios but Twitter has us moving up to get Jeanty like Poles posted it in the tribune.

Braxton is pretty good as a run blocker. I'd say for the running game we're likely to be among the best in the league this year.

I agree with all of that. Braxton is the starter unless problem with an injury. Kiran A will be the depth. With Tripoli changing positions, doubt he plays the first part of the year. There's no one behind Wright so maybe Ozzy stays at RT.Only if Braxton is out for any reason, Ozzy gets his shot. Personally I think Kiran has the most upside but Braxton is in a contract year. That seems to motivate players. I doubt Braxton plays well enough to get a 20 million dollars contract.

I'm not sure why you think a three year starter isn't good enough to start. Braxton hasn't entered his prime being only 26. With adding weight and getting better coaching, he may hold up better against the bull rush. Kiran is a third round pick with prototypical measurables. He would have been drafted higher if it wasn't for injury. We don't what we have due him never having a training camp. Next, we are as far away from a cluster F since the 85 SB team on OL. We literally have four "plus" on our OL. How many teams can say that? Add to that Braxton was average. Lastly, Braxton should be ready by training camp. I broke my tibial plateau last year and was full go on six months. That was at 58. Aiden Hutchinson almost came back much faster than that. IMO - the only thing this OL has to do is gel. This OL has finally achieved solid status. Next year = deep. I'm not concerned at all.

I am just thinking outside the box. Johnson has had Sewell throwing passes, OL catching passes, and other formation trickery. Yet, he has never had the versatility that he will have in 2025.

Also, while those kids of runs can replace yardage, they dont make the defense come down into the box in the same way, because those runs are generally to the sides and not up the middle. So you dont replace everything a HB gives you with those yards?

I definitely think leaving Wright where he is is best for him. I definitely think Trapilo is better as a RT than a LT. I definitely think Jones and Amagadje wont be good enough to start at LT. I definitely think the Bears drafted Trapilo in the 2nd round to project as a starter. All that tells me if Trapilo plays well at LT, then he will start there, and if not, theyre gonna move Wright. Im pretty sure theyre hoping Trapilo can play LT, but if he cant do it well, then what? You switch sides with even less time to get them acclimated? This is a bit of a cluster f*ck. Hopefully it sorts out. My GUESS is that Wright ends up at LT, and if he can do it, he might be very good there. But I hate moving guys around. I really do. Wish we'd taken Ersery instead of Trapilo and Stewart. But if the switch works, then we end up a DT ahead.

We will also have a battle between 11 and 12 personal. 11 having the edge if Loveland can't get into practice early. If Burden comes to OTAs and Camp and is blowing it up, Loveland and the 12 personal may take a back seat. Loveland needs to be ready to fight because if he played equally as well of the bat, maybe the bears run more 12.

I highly doubt it. Moore and Burden may get 15 each on average. We also also have Duvernay that should get a few. As a reference Sam Laporta has one career rushing attempt, so Loveland is probably out.

I'm glad they are leaving Wright alone. It's hard enough gelling an OL the way it is. It's such a luxury to have Thuney next to whoever plays LT. Another boost to the trenches is that they just hired Mark Philippi to the strength and conditioning team. He's a former, seven time, World's Strongest Man competitor. The fatties have someone to push the right buttons in the weight room.

This is going to be the hot topic all off-season and maybe into the season. Bears are starting it off correctly by keeping Darnell Wright at RT. That leaves us with a 3 way battle at LT. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/bears/2025/05/01/bears-ozzy-trapilo-will-play-left-tackle/83388491007/

I still have the vision of Ben Johnson in the draft room hearing about trading up for a RB and like a little boy at Christmas being excited for his new toy. Then being disappointed when it didn’t happen. Then the box opens up later and inside is “stud” Luther Burden.

good analysis - I think you've got it right.

It is possible that Moore, Burden, and Loveland will have over 50 combined carries this year. Deebo Samuel had a career high of 59 a few years ago and averages over 40 per season. Moore had 14 last year, I could see him having over 20-25 this year. If they get 50 carries from WR/TE, then adding another RB would not be as big of a need.

That could be the case. I did watch some videos this morning on Tripilo. He will need some work to fix some of his issues which I think we have a great coach to help him. His main issue is getting more fluid in his hips for run blocking. His 33 to 33-1/2 arms could become an issue in pass pro, but he has good slide with his feet and holds defenders well. I think in camp, Kiran and him rotate at LT until Jones returns. Wright is a last resort to shift and he may see a couple plays here and there at LT so he's ready for the last resort. The Bears need 10 good players on oline because as we see, guys get banged up. It will happen year in and year out. We have 4 guys capable of playing LT, 5 counting Thuney, so we should see our best line in decades for once.

I do think there are sometimes concerns with lineman being too tall for guard because of your center of gravity and how it plays into leverage inside, so that could be a hindrance conceptually for Trapilo inside.

Revisiting the schedule, now post-draft. Right off the bat, I will say the Bears split the division, but that could go plus or minus a win, so at worst 2-4, at best 4-2. Home DET - W GB - W MIN - W DAL - L (Really depends on which DAL team shows up, could go either way) NYG - W (Feels like an easy win) CLE - W (CLE has 5 QBs, and none are starter quality) PIT - W (Defense good, offense bad) NO - W (Feels like one of the easier games on the schedule) 7-1 at home Away DET - L GB - L MIN - L PHI - L (Super Bowl champs) WAS - W (should've beaten them with Flus) BAL - L (Tough matchup) CIN - W (Feels like a shootout in the making) SF - L (This game could go either way, give the edge to SF right now) LVR - W (Should be one of the easier road games) 3-6 on the road 10-7 record, with probably a +/-3, meaning 13-4 if EVERYTHING goes right, and 7-10 if everything goes wrong.

If you can believe what she said, they would have taken Banks ahead of Loveland, and that makes me feel a little better about them. Loveland is a great pick, and Johnson will be able to show his stuff with Burden and Loveland with Odunze and Moore. That's a lot to cover. She's also really articulate about how we played ourselves on our trade downs, and I especially liked the discussion about Trapilo and what it means to the OL. I really like TTNL and Courtney because they seem to look at things the same way i do a lot. Not always! I think Campbell is not as good as they do. And the GMs in the league agree with them and not me lol But yeah, the way Johnson was rocking back and forth, he clearly is tickled to have Loveland. Even if he was 4th on our list, he's still well worth the #10 pcik, and is gonna make a huge difference for this team. Pray that however the LT situation works out, it will actually work. If there is no hole on the OL, this offense could go far.

You could tell who Ben really wanted, but Poles wanted everyone on board with their decision, so Ben said he was on board with the RB and OTs. He knows they need oline, but deep down wanted his Laporta. The dude was crazy rocking in his chair that things fell his way. I like Courtney and agree with what she picks up. She reads between the lines.

OK there's just too much good information here. I'm just gonna share it. If you watch it, do yourself a favor and start at 48:00 (48 minutes in) to avoid all the nonsense, and whatever. Courtney talking about the Bears draft starts at 48 min

So Courtney Cronin tonight on TTNL saying a bunch of things with authority in her voice. SHe usually says things like "could be" etc but these things she was definitive about. She said she spoke to Jeff King after the first round pick had been taken, and he said the Bears had several players highly targeted for the #10 pick. She later said the Bears definitely wanted Campbell AND Banks, and after the Jaguar trade, the price was too high to go up for Jeanty. She said she didnt know who the Bears had been calling, but it definitely wasn't the Browns. So this is specific information, instead of rumor or opinion, and she has always been credible as far as I know. She doesnt make guesses presented as facts. Could someone have lied to her? For sure. But I believe this is what she heard, and it makes sense. So it seems the order was Jeanty, Campbell & Banks then Loveland. I'm still watching and she literally just said "If Banks had been there at #10 he would have been the pick" I can still see why Johnson was shaking with excitement. Like many of us here, maybe we felt like we should be disciplined and do the right thing, take the LT, but when a shiny toy at TE who's NFL comp happens to be Sam LaPorta is available, its exciting to be able to get that guy. I personally felt the same way about Jeanty. I knew we should take the LT if possible, but my irresponsible heart wanted to see Jeanty in a Bears uniform and think about Payton, Sayers and Willie Galimore, who is why my jersey here is 28. Should I add Neal Anderson to that list? A lot of people dont know about Willie the Wisp.

Tripilo has 33" arms, so he may end up there if he can't handle the outside. Nothing wrong with it. Thuney getting extended is not a given so they draft two guys who could play there if needed.