Countdown to Kickoff: Profile on Chicago Bears No. 65 Cody Whitehair

The Countdown to Kickoff series continues on with a look at Chicago Bears rookie offensive lineman Cody Whitehair who is expected to make an immediate impact.

There are exactly 65 days until the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers open up the 2016 NFL regular season with a Super Bowl rematch. In the meantime, we at NFL Spin Zone are going to profile a player each day as we countdown the days to kickoff.

The Countdown to Kickoff series began with a look at No. 99 Joey Bosa and has continued on everyday since (check out all of the posts here).

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There were plenty of strong choices to profile at No. 65, including Lane Johnson, John Sullivan and Jonathan Cooper. However, an impact rookie was an interesting choice here.

Let’s take a look at Chicago Bears rookie offensive lineman Cody Whitehair.

After an impressive career at Kansas State, Whitehair was drafted by the Bears in the second-round (56th overall) in the 2016 NFL Draft. Whitehair was considered by most to be one of the best interior offensive lineman in this draft class, and the Bears did an incredible job of landing him even after trading down twice in the second-round.

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Whitehair joins the Bears after being a four-year starter in college. He red-shirted at Kansas State in 2011, before becoming a starting guard for the team in 2012 and 2013. Whitehair made the move to left tackle as a junior and held down the spot well for the Wildcats for two seasons.

While Whitehair was a successful left tackle in college, his lack of length made him an obvious interior offensive lineman at the next level. While he will not play tackle in the NFL, his skills from the outside should translate well to guard at the next level.

The Kansas State product is an extremely quick and athletic offensive guard who shows great ability as a pass protector. He also has the tenacity and toughness to dominate as a run blocker at the next level, and his quickness should allow him to reach the second-level in the run game with consistency.

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After the draft, the Bears moved on from veteran guard Matt Slauson, who had been the team’s primary left guard in recent years. Slauson is still is a good starting NFL guard, but the Bears clearly think that Whitehair is better, and drafted him to replace the veteran.

Whitehair is now the over-whelming favorite to start for the Bears at left guard in 2016, and I think he will come in and have a ton of success. With Kyle Long likely moving back to his familiar right guard position this season, the Bears could quickly have a dominant starting duo at the offensive guard positions.

The Bears did not make many significant additions to their offense this off season, with a majority of their resources going to the defensive side of the ball. That being said, drafting Whitehair and moving Long back inside is a move that will immediately help Jay Cutler and company.

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I like Whitehair as an immediate impact player for the Bears up front. An offensive line of Charles Leno, Whitehair, Hroniss Grasu, Long and Bobby Massie from left to right has a lot of upside, and could become a major improvement on the Bears’ units of the past.