Chicago Bears: 5 burning questions about the offense
By Ryan Heckman
1. Will the offensive line regress or impress?
The 2019 season was a disappointment for a few reasons, but the offensive line may have been at the top of the list. As a unit, they simply weren’t very good. The Bears’ best offensive lineman, by far, has to be Cody Whitehair. But, he cannot do it alone.
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There was very little cohesiveness it seemed. The line, overall, was one of the worst groups in all of football last season. In fact, per Football Outsiders, they were ranked as the no. 29 overall offensive line in the NFL.
The only area they were remotely average is on runs where a back was stuffed at or behind the line of scrimmage, in which the Bears saw that happen 18 percent of the time (league average was 19 percent).
Other than that, they ranked near the bottom of every other major category. Had it not been for a back like David Montgomery, who is better than most at shedding tacklers, this could have been the worst statistically ranked offensive line in the league.
The Bears did not add much talent up front, with the biggest two names being Germain Ifedi and Jason Spriggs. Ifedi may win the other starting guard spot left by Kyle Long, but Spriggs will likely battle for a roster position.
If Chicago’s offense is to take a step forward in 2020, it starts up front. This line has to be better, or else.