During his first offseason with the Chicago Bears in 2022, fifth-round pick Braxton Jones was worried about mastering one lesson that was a challenge for him entering the league.
He had to learn how to throw his hands.
“In college, you know, I was really reserved with my hands and I didn’t use my long arms to my advantage,” Jones said. “So I’d say that was one of the big things and still to this day, I mean, I’ve still got to work on them. They’re a big thing for me and they’re going to help me be very, you know, good in this league.”
Jones used his hands to beat out Teven Jenkins for an offensive tackle spot and earned the starting left tackle job as a rookie. He’s played there ever since.
Entering year four with the Bears, Jones’ position on the offensive line is the biggest question mark on the unit after additions of three starters for the interior in March. While he’s played well enough to be a serviceable starter at LT, Chicago is in a place to land an elite talent at the position with the No. 10 pick.
Braxton Jones needs to change his weight
During his meeting with reporters at the annual league meeting, new head coach Ben Johnson said Jones needs to make a serious change to his physique. Johnson implored Jones to gain weight.
“The number one thing in my opinion that tackles need to do is pass protect,” Johnson said via Courtney Cronin of ESPN. “I think he’s got the feet to get that done. We’re going to challenge him to maybe gain a little bit more weight so that he can anchor a little bit better in pass pro.
“But everything I’ve seen so far has shown a phenomenal athlete out there on the edge that we feel like we can work with.”
Johnson added that Jones is “on the right track” in his recovery from an ankle injury that caused him to miss the final two games of the regular season.
Ben Johnson said Braxton Jones is "on the right track" in recovering from his season-ending ankle injury that required surgery in December and believes he'll be limited to start training camp.
Johnson said Jones needs to gain more weight to have a stronger anchor in pass…
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) April 1, 2025
Per the Bears website, Jones is listed at six-foot-five, 310 pounds.
The Chicago Bears are taking a new approach from Ryan Poles’ plan
Johnson’s plan for the offensive line sounds much different than what Poles envisioned when he first took over and had his guys shed weight.
“You know we’re going to change it up a little bit in terms of the style,” Poles said of the OL in 2022. “So a lot of those guys and the message has been clear, we’ve gotta change body types a little bit. We’ve gotta get lighter, we’ve gotta get quicker. Through that, I think there’s some young talent that just needs to be pressed.
“That’s part of our job is to create competition and bring the best out of them. We’ll do that and we’ll see if the cream rises to the top.”
The problem with those offensive lines is that the cream never rose to the top. Chicago just started whatever product they could find, curdled or not.
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