Chicago Bears: 5 Offensive linemen to watch for in Senior Bowl

The Chicago Bears need to improve their offensive line to succeed in 2020. The Senior Bowl is this week. Here are some linemen who could help.

The 2019 Chicago Bears had a tough time offensively. They struggled to gain yards and score points. They finished 29th in both total points and total yards in 2019. They ranked dead last in number of yards per pass attempt and 29th in yards per rush. Despite all the offensive struggles, the Bears finished with a record of 8-8. That was because of their elite defense.

This offseason, the Bears need to improve the offense so they don’t waste another great defensive effort. One area of need is the offensive line. In 2018, the Bears had a couple of Pro Bowl players. In 2019, the line struggled to get the running game going, making things difficult for quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.

The right side of the line was particularly bad. Kyle Long and Bobby Massie, the starting right guard and right tackle respectively, had their seasons ended early. The Bears didn’t have the proper replacements behind them so the play suffered.

Early on there were some problems with the blocking scheme and the left side of the interior line struggled, but that was mostly because the Bears moved Cody Whitehair from center to guard. Once the coaches admitted the move wasn’t working, they switched Whitehair back to center and James Daniels to guard and things started to get smoother.

Massie will return to take his spot back in 2020. Hopefully, he has a similar season to what he had in 2018. Long, on the other hand, retired so the Bears need to find a replacement for him. That replacement isn’t on the roster so they have to scour the free agent field and the draft and decide which way is a better route. They need to add depth along the line so they may decide to go both ways.

The Senior Bowl is this week, so the Bears get their first live look at some prospects. Among them are some of the top offensive linemen in the country. The guy the coaches want could be there.

The actual game isn’t the most important part of this week. It’s how the players do during practices. They go one-on-one with other top players and coaches want to see how they perform against the best competition.

Here are five offensive linemen the Bears should look at during Senior Bow week.