6 things to watch for when the Chicago Bears face the Kansas City Chiefs
By Todd Welter
Braxton Jones starting at left tackle.
The biggest surprise of the offseason and training camp is who is slated to be the starting left tackle. New general manager Ryan Poles signed veteran Riley Reiff at the beginning of camp. Everyone assumed the veteran would start at left tackle.
Instead, it is looking more and more like the fifth-round pick out of Southern Utah, Braxton Jones will be protecting Fields’ blindside. It will be interesting to see how the athletic lineman goes from blocking defensive ends at the FCS level in college football to professional pass rushers.
Granted, he will not be facing a lot of exotic blitz packages in this game as most teams run just a basic defense in the preseason. Still, he will have to take on veteran Frank Clark. It will be interesting to see if he can win that battle.
Braxton Jones going against Frank Clark should be a good test for the rookie. https://t.co/7fYHJ4kQJe
— Brendan Sugrue (@BrendanSugrue) August 11, 2022
Jones has impressed the coaching staff enough to be named the starter. He has impressed the guy he faces a lot in practice, Robert Quinn. You know the guy who holds the franchise single-season sack record.
Bear Necessities: Robert Quinn praises rookie Braxton Jones' upside https://t.co/cfIDbz7f1k
— Alyssa Barbieri (@AlyssaBarbieri) August 11, 2022
The rest of the offensive line protecting Fields and the backup quarterbacks.
Jones is not the only player to watch on the offensive line. Pretty much anyone on the offensive line is worth watching after how bad the line played last season. They struggled to protect the quarterback and open up holes for the running game.
The Chicago Bears are switching to the outside-zone blocking scheme. Hopefully, that helps open up the running game. Still, giving Fields, Trevor Siemen, and Nathan Peterman time in the pocket will be the main thing to watch.
Poles drafted four offensive linemen in between the fifth and seventh round. Also returning are last year’s draft picks Larry Borom and Teven Jenkins. Borom appears to be the swing tackle for now but if he plays well and Jones struggles, he might be able to jump him on the depth chart.
Jenkins missed the first few practices of training camp with an injury and there were reports that the Bears were looking to trade last year’s second-round pick. He is practicing again and it will be interesting to see how many reps he gets in this game and what he can do after missing the bulk of last season after back surgery.