When the Chicago Bears opened training camp, a full-fledged three-headed battle commenced for the starting left tackle now. Now, the competition to block quarterback Caleb Williams’ blindside seems to have whittled down to two candidates.
Braxton Jones, Ozzy Trapilo and Kiran Amegadjie are Chicago’s three left tackle options at the moment. However, Amegadjie has been battling a leg injury that kept him out of the joint practice and preseason matchup against the Miami Dolphins. While he returned to practice Monday, Amegadjie is behind his fellow competitors.
In that preseason opener, Trapilo played 32 percent of the snaps while Trapilo played 50 percent. Jones earned the start, although the Bears rested many of their key starters. Overall, offensive coordinator Declan Doyle admitted that there has been some separation in the left tackle battle. But at the same time, there is still plenty of work to be done at the position entering Week 1, via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
“I would say that both of them, there’s a lot of room for improvement,” Doyle said after watching Sunday’s film. “Really, it’s about who’s willing to make improvement on that performance, and keep accelerating to see who’s gonna be the guy there Week 1.”
“The tape doesn’t lie,” Doyle said. “It will become clearer and clearer as time goes on that one of those guys is going to separate themselves – in the eyes of the decision makers, of Ben (Johnson), of our front office, of the O-line coaches, of myself. But incomplete evaluation thus far. We still a lot of football left to play.”
Who will win Chicago Bears left tackle battle?
Jones entered the competition as the incumbent, having started 40 games since joining the Bears in 2022. However, he played in just 12 games during the 2024 campaign after a season-ending ankle injury. And that was after only playing 11 games a year prior. If Jones is going to retain his starting job, he must stay healthy above all else.
When on the field though, the tackle has been more than a serviceable option for Chicago. Despite his season ending early, Jones’ 77.4 grade from Pro Football Focus ranked 21/140 tackles. His 70.2 run blocking grade ranked 35th while Jones had the 17th-highest pass blocking grade at 80.8. The Bears are looking for that kind of production from the tackle over a full 17-game season.
Trapilo is battling a completely different obstacle to the left tackle role. He was a standout during his time at Boston College, earning First-team All-ACC honors in 2024. However, most of his playing time came at right tackle. Now, Trapilo must not only make the NFL leap, but do so while playing on the opposite side of the offensive line.
Head coach Ben Johnson and company will continue to rotate starters until they figure out the best fit. But barring an unforeseen injury or transaction, Jones or Trapilo will be the Bears’ starting left tackle in Week 1.
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