Chicago Bears’ Ever-Changing Offensive Line Quietly Becoming a Strength
Published by Matt Eurich on November 13, 2015
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears offensive line has had a lot of moving parts this season, but it is quietly becoming one of the team’s strongest units.
In 2013, the Bears started the same five players along the offensive line in all 16 games. Free-agent signings Jermon Bushrod and Matt Slauson manned the left side of the line, veteran Roberto Garza started at center and rookies Kyle Long and Jordan Mills anchored the right side of the offensive line. As a whole, the unit allowed just 30 sacks—fourth-fewest in the NFL.
The Bears entered the 2014 season with the same starting five, but all five starters missed at least one game due to injury. Bushrod missed two games, Slauson missed 11, Garza missed four, Long missed one and Mills missed three.
With all the injuries along the offensive line in 2014, the Bears allowed the 14th-most sacks in the NFL (41), and they also allowed 82 quarterback hits.
The Bears released both Garza and Mills before the start of this season, but they added veteran center Will Montgomery and guard Vladimir Ducasse in free agency and drafted Oregon center Hroniss Grasu in the third round of this year’s draft.
Bushrod and Slauson returned as starters on the left side of the line to begin the season, but the rest of the offensive line looked drastically different than it did a year before. Montgomery manned the middle of the line at center, Ducasse started at right guard and Long moved from right guard to right tackle for the first time in his career.
So far this season, Long is the only member of the offensive line to start all eight games at the same position. Despite all the team’s injuries and moving parts, the offensive line has shown improvement the last couple of weeks because of the play of a few key players.
Charles Leno’s Development at Left Tackle
The Bears drafted Charles Leno in the seventh round of the 2014 draft, and according to Pro Football Focus, the former Boise State Bronco appeared in five games last season and played 32 snaps on offense.
He was used primarily as an extra tackle in various sub-packages last season, but he got an opportunity to battle with Mills in training camp this summer for the starting right tackle job. Both Mills and Leno struggled in training camp and the preseason, but the Bears were happy enough with Leno’s body of work to keep him on the roster over Mills.
Leno was used sparingly in the first two games of the season as an extra blocker, but he was thrust into the starting lineup at left tackle when Bushrod suffered a concussion in Week 3 against the Seattle Seahawks. Since Bushrod’s injury, Leno has been the team’s starter at left tackle.
According to Pro Football Focus, Leno has earned a minus-20.0 overall grade this season and has allowed two sacks, four quarterback hits and 17 quarterback hurries. Even though Leno has graded out negatively up to this point in the season, he has proved he has potential.
“I mean I can’t say enough about the job Leno has done,” Long said after the Bears lost to the Detroit Lions in Week 6, per the Chicago Sun-Times‘ Adam Jahns. “He’s a young guy. He’s had to play against some really good players. Ziggy Ansah is pretty darn good. He held his own. [The Lions] had one sack and Jay [Cutler] was out by the sticks running.”
Bushrod was on the active roster in Week 9 for the first time since Week 3, but Leno surprisingly remained the team’s starter, per Jeremy Stoltz of BearReport.com:
Leno did give up a sack in the first half against the San Diego Chargers on Monday Night Football, but he settled in as the game wore on. He still needs to improve in the running game and get stronger at the point of attack, but he is athletic enough to be a starting left tackle in the NFL.
The Bears could eventually go back to Bushrod if Leno starts to struggle, but it makes the most sense at this point to give the young tackle an opportunity to develop at the position.
Matt Slauson has Stabilized the Interior of the Offensive Line
When Montgomery went down with a season-ending leg injury against the Oakland Raiders in Week 4, Slauson was forced to move from left guard to center for the first time in his career. He played well at his new position, and he received praise from head coach John Fox after the game.
“He’s a professional,” Fox said, per Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com. “He didn’t have any problems that way. It’s just different. He had most of his reps as a left guard. So I think it was pretty amazing what he was able to do.”
Slauson moved back to left guard in Week 5 against the Kansas City Chiefs, and Grasu made his first NFL start at center. Grasu made two starts before suffering a neck injury in practice leading up to Chicago’s Week 7 contest against the Minnesota Vikings.
Following Grasu’s injury, Slauson once again moved back to center against the Vikings, and offensive line coach Dave Magazu praised the veteran offensive lineman’s performance, per the team’s official Twitter account:
According to Pro Football Focus, the former Nebraska Cornhusker has allowed just three quarterback hurries this season and zero sacks. Slauson is strong at the point of attack, he uses his hands well and he possesses underrated athleticism for the position. He is at his best in pass protection, but he also has the ability to get out in front on running plays.
Slauson has moved back and forth between left guard and center this season without complaining, and his versatility has helped stabilize Chicago’s offensive line in recent weeks.
Kyle Long’s Progress at Right Tackle
The Bears drafted Long in the first round of the 2013 draft, and the former Oregon Duck was named to the Pro Bowl following his first two NFL seasons. Despite being one of the league’s best guards, the team opted to move Long to right tackle in Week 1 this season.
Long spent all of training camp and the preseason at right guard before making his first career start at right tackle against the Packers. He struggled a bit at his new position in Week 1, but offensive coordinator Adam Gase was impressed by his performance, according to Chicago Bears radio network sideline reporter Zach Zaidman:
According to Pro Football Focus, Long gave up three sacks and six quarterback hurries between Week 1 and Week 3, but he has not allowed a sack since. He has been a force in the running game since entering the league, but he is quickly developing into one of the league’s best in pass protection.
Long is an aggressive lineman who has the strength to fend off bull-rushing defensive ends, and he is athletic enough to match up with some of the NFL’s quickest edge-rushers. He has shown improvement on a weekly basis this season, but he admits he still has a ways to go in his development, per Mayer:
I’m getting there. Every week I see something new. With new opponents, you learn to overcome different challenges. But I’m enjoying it. I think I’m growing not only as a football player but as a person through this process because I’ve been challenged. The guys are rallying around me. They expect greatness. I expect greatness and that’s where we’re at with that.
Long has had a few miscues this season, but that is to be expected of a player learning a new position on the fly.
Despite having a variety of moving parts along the offensive line because of injuries this season, the Bears have allowed just 14 sacks—tied for 10th-fewest in the NFL.
While Leno is a work in progress at left tackle, he has looked better in pass protection than Bushrod did earlier in the season. Slauson has proved on a weekly basis he is one of the team’s most consistent contributors, while Long is quickly developing into being one of the league’s best offensive tackles.
Ducasse began the season as the team’s starter at right guard and struggled mightily in both the running and passing game, but he has shown improvement since moving to left guard in Week 8. Patrick Omameh has started the last two games at right guard, and while he has struggled a bit in pass protection, he has done a nice job as a run-blocker.
Chicago’s offensive line still has a ways to go before it can be considered one of the league’s best, but the unit is quietly becoming a strength of the team because of the play of Leno, Slauson and Long.
Statistical information courtesy of NFL.com unless otherwise noted.
Matt Eurich is a Chicago Bears featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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