Chicago Bears: 5 things to watch in second preseason game
Who will be under center?
When the Bears drafted (stole) James Daniels in the second-round of the 2018 NFL Draft, many figured he would be the team’s starting center. After all, he was arguably the best center coming out of college.
Additionally, Cody Whitehair had struggled at times last season with snapping the football. There were multiple times where Whitehair simply couldn’t get the ball to Trubisky in the shotgun formation. There were other times where the exchange under center wasn’t clean.
Moreover, Whitehair was a guard in college and seemingly played well in that position as a rookie. However, almost immediately after the draft, there were reports that the Bears intended on using Daniels at guard and keeping Whitehair at center.
Matt Nagy sees growth from rookie James Daniels, who is seeing time at center: "We like where he’s at right now and he’s going to continue to get better and better.
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) August 7, 2018
Fast-forward to this week, and there is evidence that perhaps the Bears are reconsidering. Daniels has been getting time at center this week. I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s no coincidence that Daniels is getting time at center the same week the following happened: On Saturday Whitehair fumbled the snap and Nagy replied, “get these guys off the [expletive] field.”
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It’s worth monitoring whether Daniels plays any at the center position on Thursday. It will become even more interesting if he plays well. Although, that would actually be a good problem to have. If Daniels can start at center, and Whitehair can transition back to guard, that would really solidify the line both in terms of quality and depth.