Chicago Bears: 5 veterans who must step up in 2018

Bobby Massie

When Bobby Massie was signed as a free agent coming over from the Arizona Cardinals, the Bears’ offensive line was in much worse shape. They needed help at the tackle position, so Pace figured Massie made sense since he had been a starter in Arizona.

I suppose you could look at Massie as somewhat of an upgrade to a guy like Jermon Bushrod, who never hit his stride with the Bears. At the time, Kyle Long was playing right tackle as well, but Long slid into guard after Vlad Ducasse left, leaving a void.

Massie has had his good moments, but has also had his fair share of tough plays to watch. Some, like myself, thought the Bears could address the tackle position in the draft and potentially give Massie some competition. They failed to do so, leaving Massie as really the only option.

Last season was definitely better than his 2016 season with the Bears, probably due to mainly familiarity with the system. 2018, though, needs to be his best yet.

As I mentioned, this offseason has been all about Trubisky. Massie is a huge part of that equation — keeping his quarterback upright. The Bears don’t have a whole lot of options behind Massie at the moment, and those will likely come throughout training camp battles. The moral of the story: Massie needs to not only stay healthy, but play his best ball this year. His quarterback’s success, in some part, depends on it.