Bears 2026 Offensive Tackle Outlook

Bears, blog, boys, you know it all, computer analytic geeky nerds, Michael Schneider-Tum, Kavanaugh, the bear, blog, boys, f*ck, noodles, do it some f*ck, podcast somewhere, nobody wants to hear you, geeks, you pencil pushing, skinny, jean, wear it, geeks you, coming to you live, my mom's basement, this is the bear's, blog, boys, podcast, I'm your co-host, Tom Kavanaugh, here with my good buddy and other co-hosts, Michael Schneider, Schneider, man it's a great day to talk some football, we are going to continue our off-season coverage here, we're talking about offensive tackles, brother, how have you been doing since we last spoke? Good brother, I cannot complain time, how about yourself? Yeah, I'm doing good, trying to grind through this draft, you know, definitely in catch-up mode, I definitely feel like I am behind, I haven't really gotten to many offensive tackles, but I just want to talk about the position because it's quietly been, I guess not even quietly, it's been a louder need publicly than I expected, I really expected to everyone just kind of hop on board and like, hey the bears need to fix the defense and they'll kind of figure it out offensive tackle. But obviously they drafted IZPelo last year and he suffers the rupture of Batelli tendon, which I had heard somewhere, I think Robert Mays was talking about, there was actually a study done about offensive tackles who tear a rupture, their Batelli tendon and how year one is like a 30% success rate of them coming back and like playing to the level that they were before, like it's usually like a really lengthy and serious injury. So I think that definitely affects the outlook on like who you're viewing as potential bear starters at that position. But before we get to that, I didn't mean to go off in that length, I feel like we would be remiss if we did not talk about the recent news about the bear stadium and I know you're definitely more on it than I am, I'm definitely more on the football side. Senator, what did you make of the update that the bears sounds like it's a pretty significant step in the direction that they will be moving to the Indiana that I think Northwest Indiana area? Yeah, I knew as soon as they said of Indiana, their governor stepped in, it was going to be very enticing to this kind of bears. You just knew that they would do anything in their power to basically just bend over for the bear and do anything that they ask, make it make sense. I mean, you can even go into the tax rate going from Illinois just to Indiana, I think you just save up, I think their taxes get cut in half. Just from a percentage standpoint from that. So that makes a lot of sense. And I mean, I always thought that it was really easy to point the finger at Kevin Warren saying, how is he not making any progress just to send that? Hi, I thought I was with Kevin Warren. Is this guy's very experienced? He's very professional. He has a lot of connections. He knows how things are supposed to get done because he was monumental in getting the US bank stadium for the Minnesota Vikings done. And that's a world class stadium there. It's incredible. So a guy with that much experience with a franchise that's worth as much of the bears, it purchased the Arlington property very fast, something that the Makaski family never did anything like that, right? I always blamed it down to the politicians and all of them playing hardball with the Chicago bears. And it just seems like that's always been the case. I mean, when you take it back to when Lori Lightfoot was the mayor, they proposed something that kept the bears into a lease, but at Soldier Field, but major renovations. And I've never listened to Chicago bears, ultimately what they wanted to do is own a stadium. And they wanted to pay up for the stadium. The bears are committing $2 billion of their own money or however they're getting it to the stadium. All they're asking is for the infrastructure. And I get it. That's not easy. That comes from the taxes from the people. You raise your property taxes on your homes. So could all the value increases this and that? I get it, but at the end of the day, it is the Chicago bears. And instead of playing hardball, instead of being a little bit more focused on your political campaign moving forward, you know, how that looks like if you do help the Chicago bear, because basically you're helping the rich get richer by helping them get a stadium. I know that's not the democratic way. And I know how that might look on a presidential campaign or other campaigns. So I always thought that because of that, the Illinois politicians always said, well, the balls and the bears core, they got to be a little bit more reasonable. And technically, are they wrong? No. But when you kind of weigh what's at risk, they are wrong. They're just making that sound. They're trying to point the finger at the bears in a way that makes like, hey, it was the bears fault. They weren't being reasonable. Technically, yes. But really, you're not really prioritizing them. So I'm not surprised. I think the smoke is very real. I think there's a ton of opportunity on that border of Indiana. I think it's right off the highway. And I think, again, the state of Indiana, all their politicians will do whatever Chicago bears want. So I just think it's very real. And my upset about it, yeah, I do want the bears in the Chicago land area, whether it is in the field or the Arlington. From me is the distance much different from Arlington to the border of Indiana? No, you're probably talking a difference of 10 minutes. But I guess it's just a principle, right? The bears do play in Indiana. And it just kind of, it marks like a shits day on our politics and everything. Yeah, that's that's kind of where I weigh in. I think it just like, I don't think there's many sports teams like the bears and Chicago that are that synonymous with each other. Like the city of Chicago embodies this team. This team embodies the city. I mean, just like everything about the culture of the city, they're just, you can't really separate the two. And that's where I come from. Where it's like, it's really disappointing that they wouldn't be able to stay in the state of Illinois or in like the Chicago land area. Even though you just said, it's not that much farther. It's just kind of the principle of moving the bears out of Chicago. They're just such historic figures that are just linked to each other. And I think at the very least night or nothing said in stone at the very least, I think there is still possibilities. The bears do stay in Illinois. And this makes Illinois bend a little bit because of how reasonable like you just mentioned in the end is to work with them to my understanding. I don't know enough about it. I watched a little bit of a video kind of explaining it. The bears would be paying five times the amount in taxes. And the Rams would be in LA, which is absolutely ridiculous. At the state of Illinois, thinks that they can do that. It's not even close on terms of what's more of a preferable destination in terms of where you're building a stadium. And then Tom, if the bears do end up going to Indiana and you know, no taxes, right? That's what my understanding is. It's like very mental or whatever it is, right? It's very minimal. That's why a lot of people move to Indiana, the borderland because their taxes get cut in half. But so the thing is, so like when you say that the taxes would be five times if they were to stay in Illinois. But that's what like the governor and the mayor are going to say like, hey, well, the Arlington guy, that's what they're saying. Well, hey, the bears had their chance. Well, why are they going to value for us? And why are you strong hanging on the play five times the tax? Because if you got right now, the Chicago bears, they don't pay any taxes on soldier field because it's not their stadium. It is owned by the art district. So what the mayor of Arlington and all of them are saying like, well, the bears don't pay any taxes right now. We just want them to know such a stupid argument. Like that's such a damn argument. Those are the arguments that they're making and the argument is, well, hey, the bears had an opportunity on the table. They could pay five times the taxes as they ran as the bears, you know, they had their option. Well, like you're missing out so many contacts. Like that's going to be, well, because this will be breaking news afterward, right? Obviously, the politicians and all the people who led this in Illinois, they're going to get full court pressed by the Chicago media. This is a mess. And they're going to have all their excuses lined up, but it's going to lack so much contacts with all that. And yeah, I think this is a very, very real possibility. And it just sucks. I mean, you got all these people that in all the union guys and all the people that would have been charged in the infrastructure of building the stadium, like they miss out on all of that stuff, you know? So you're just, you know, you're really shooting, you know, the state of Illinois and all the other people in the back with this, you know, it's almost like a gut punch. And I totally understand it. Now, when it happens, am I still going to be a, if it does happen, I'm still going to be excited. They will build a world of class stadium, no doubt about it. It'll be 10 times the experience as soldier field. I'm talking about inside the amenities, everything, better viewing experience, probably easier to get in, get out, you know, more tailgate stuff, probably more bars, probably going to have a casino. It'll probably be a hell of a venue, but it didn't, it didn't need to beat it this, and I think they've been Illinois and all their people have been dragging on this so long, making it hard for Kevin Warren and the Maccassies. And I think they're just getting fed up with it. It's been what come three years in the making. Yeah, it's been ridiculous. about how many rug poles it feels like they've been. And that's why I do believe this is real, the real men's in Vienna, but I also wanna be like tentative about it because they said, we're deciding it's gonna be Arlington, this is gonna happen and then it doesn't even happen. Like nothing's even started yet in terms of building outside of, if I'm not mistaken, they bought the Arlington site, or at least like, that was the initial plan. So I'm not even, I know this is significant, but I'm not until like things are actually rolling, I'm not gonna just believe, I think there's still a long way to go, unfortunately, because like you said, it's already been so long, but not a week can talk about this all day. I'm sure we could literally have an episode just about kind of the ins and outs of the Bears New Stadium and why things have been held up the way they have. Let's transition to the football aspect of it. So I opened the show with talking about Aussie Trapilo, who I thought, Siner, you saw growth from when he initially was playing earlier in the season because of injury and then actually just like, keeping the job staying in. I thought he was a really good fit in the Bears system, especially in the run game. I had my concerns about him as a run blocker 'cause he's so tall and like, decided and think he generated a ton of movement at the point of attack, but just like slotting in as an outside zone guy where you're moving horizontally a lot, or even an inside zone. I thought that was a way better use of his skill set and he could do those things really well because he's a good athlete. And it's just really unfortunate that his season will most likely get cut short. I mean, I cannot see him being ready to start seasons. That's how significant the injury sounds. And I just like, don't really know if you can count on him to play at the level he was playing at given the how long of a recovery this injury generally takes. So I mean, like, do you have any thoughts on like, Aussie's long-term outlook? Like do you think the Bears should treat him as they're starting left tackle moving forward? - Yeah, that's a tough one. And it's tough but it seems like he was getting settled in, right? And I think as long as he didn't look disastrous, right? As long as he didn't look confused out there, there was going to be a lot of value in it, right? If he was your weak link, gear one as a rookie because you've seen him make sure he has it goes on, there would have been so much value in that, right? Because you had him on a rookie contract for the next three years moving forward. Unfortunately, this injury with him really changed the plan, right? I think when it comes to maneuvering your cap space, you have to have a conversation. Maybe you get some guy, maybe make a trade, I'm like you did for Tuni, you might have to take on a lot of cap space or maybe there's a guy in free agency that maybe you could just keep like a stopgap for one year, right? And you pay up for that, then Aussie, when he gets back, you know, maybe you don't have to rush him or anything, right? Because the issue is that if you draft a rookie, you know, maybe first or third round, where I predict they probably would. And I'm not saying there's nothing wrong with that regardless if you have Trapilo and right on the roster. It's not bad to take continuously take swings at a premium position like that, just for depth reasons. But yeah, you don't want to, when this win now season is you don't want to have, you almost don't want to have growing pains with a left tackle. If you go that second and third round because you know, the way they kind of eased Trapilo in, right? They had Benedict starting early on. And then Trapilo took over, right? You don't really want to throw one of these rookies just into the fire with how much I'd stay with the season. So it becomes a really big need. So I think I would still look at the trade route, look at the free agency route. But then still, I mean, if you want to take a swing on a guy in round three to four, I don't see that as a bad idea on top of that as Trapilo on IR. You've got other guys battling for that swing tackle role and maybe a little depth beyond that. Maybe a guy with guard offensive tackle versatility in the draft as well as a continued attack. But yeah, it comes in need and they're gonna, they're gonna have to address it pretty aggressively and it's not gonna be as cheap and as valuable as Trapilo was. So it kind of hurts. - It definitely hurts. And I'm glad you brought up the Obedo because they did bring him back on a tender so he will be back next year. And I'm assuming they would be okay with him starting, you know, as left tackle, we talked about it like during the season, he definitely has his limitations. Like he's not a great pass blocker. I think he does add something in the run game. He can move people. I like the tenacity he plays with. But there's no doubt. There's limitations with him as a pass protector and that's kind of hard to swallow at tackle. I think those are the guys you need to be better in pass protection. - Yeah. - So I don't know if you're just like sticking, or you're just gonna put him there and feel good about it. Like I definitely think there are other ways to address it. You brought up free agency. You brought up trades. I think in Dane Brueller's latest mock, he had the bears taking a left tackle and in the first round, which is, we'll talk about that. We'll talk about the different options they could have. And I think, Siner, you brought it up about talking about like how they'll treat the position and the nature of where they'll draft a guy. I think as of right now, they still probably view Ozzy as their long-term starter with this maybe just being a lost year. I feel like you would really have to love a rookie in the first round to be like, we're going to ignore basically all of our other needs on defense, which we talked about it at length. The bears have a lot of needs on defense. And we really like this guy. We think he can be like an all-pro type of player. I don't know how you get there at picking at 25. Like you usually feel good about those guys, anywhere from like one to 15. It happens too. I'm not saying that it's not out of the question where you can draft a really good tackle outside of that range, but those guys usually go really high. They're usually pretty identifiable. I don't know if the bears will be in that range with any of these guys. Caden Proctor was a really hot name. I don't see the fit there with the bears, but I don't want to talk about individual talents yet. But yeah, I think they're going to go the free agency route and kind of treat Ozzy as their starter. Like he will get the job back once he is fully healthy. I don't know if that's going to happen in 2026. So with that being said, it's also worth mentioning to Braxton Jones as a free agent. He will, I can't see them bringing him back given he was benched last year. So that being said, there are a couple like swing tackle options for the bears in free agency. And I think that's more of the route. They're going to probably bring in competition for a guy like Theo Bennett. So you're not just going to hand him the starting job, and I don't think they should hand him the starting job because it was definitely up and down. It was good for an undrafted free agent, but it wasn't amazing by any means. And I'm not saying you're going to get much better in free agency, but you can at least give yourselves more options. Senator Persley, I would love a guy like Germaine Aluminor from the Giants. I don't know if the bears are going to be in that price range for a tackle. He's projected right now at PFF three years, $12 million a year, $22 million a guarantee. Like again, I don't know if the bears have the money to throw that much at him, but this is a guy who's played both on the right side. And the left side's got better in every single year of his career. He's a reliable pass protector. Those are the type of guys I'm looking for. The friends, starting swing tackles that could just-- you can count on. You can rely on. See, it puts the bears in a spot. I get theobendidic is back, but Tom correct me if I'm wrong. When it came to the playoff game against the Rams, they decided to put Tony outside and we met fat and inside. So they didn't even trust the bandit to be the next guy up in the playoffs. And I thought early on in here, I respect theobendidic for everything he did, Canadian guy, very new to football, and the American rules. And you know, it meant him for his effort and how he was able to just hold it down. And it actually would be pretty good in the run game. I just thought when Theo was on the field, you've seen Caleb. Tywinapp is comfortable in the pocket. I think sometimes he'd see ghosts. Just play a little bit off balance. Maybe not trust his pocket as much with Theo. So I just don't know with him there, but I think this injury put the bears in a spot. They do have a lot of maneuvering to do when it comes to the cap. But I'm not opposed to signing a guy like LMOR, two or three year deal. As much as I had optimism about Audrey Trepillo to have that solid of a tackle with the versatility, yet they have a conversation that that's probably a little bit more important than waiting for Trepillo to come back and fully recover from the injury. Yeah, I know. I would absolutely love that move. But again, I think you'd have to try to make it a priority, which I don't know if that has really been in the space of Bears fans' minds. Like they're going to attack tackle aggressively. And I think LMOR would be a pretty aggressive way to address the position because he did play so well last year. And he's projected to get them out of money that he is. So yeah, in a vacuum, I wouldn't mind it. I don't know if it's realistic, especially the Bears want to run the ball a lot. And I don't think that's really LMOR strength. I think that's where he's had his struggles with his physical limitations. And I don't think like from a scheme fit either. He's a great fit. So some couple other guys that I think are just worth mentioning. I don't know where I just missed them. But Yash Nijman has been like a career swing tackle for the Packers and then for the Panthers last year. He's played some decent football. I think he said one to give a look at Justin's school has had a lot of experience and zone blocking schemes. He's been with the Vikings. He's been with the 49ers. He's been like a career backup though. I think you're having your same questions with him as you would a Theo Benedict. And then Fred Johnson also played some decent football last year in past protection that the Eagles back up. Like these are just names. I think this is kind of the tier you're going to be shopping in. But I want to just pose to you, Simon, before we go further into like the different players they could sign. Like where we talked about, you know, I talked about I don't expect them aggressively attacking the position with a guy like a Luminor. Where would you rank among needs left tackle for next year? I mean here it's funny that I talk about defensive tackle and defensive edge are definitely wanted to by my my my own side right? Like that's so far anything else. But then you have to have a conversation with yourself. Is it both safety positions or the left tackle position? And I think that's where the conversation has. You can probably make an argument for either or you know I don't want. I think they have to somehow some way I don't know that they attack both those positions or all three very aggressively. And that's why like they're maneuvering over the cap and the value that they're going to have to find in those guys. It's very crucial right now because you don't again you have maneuvering ability to create a lot of cap like don't get me wrong like you do. But you have to be very very careful in how you do it. Yeah I think it's very very interesting because you look at the defensive line talked about that on the last one. I don't think they're not one safety under contract you're losing we're not losing but you know not under contract Friskert, Bired and Truncey Gardner Johnson. And Elijah X and Jonathan O'Horz. They're basically like you are going to have to make a whole to safe team. Yeah so I mean I mean you're you're too and they're probably going to attack a little bit in the draft there. You can probably find a safety in third round three three to five. You're probably not going to find a guy you feel comfortable starting at tackle in three to five. So I mean when it comes to like draft flexibility it probably is a left tackle position when you after the defensive tackle that edge it probably does go left left tackle. Especially with the importance of the business I'm not saying safety is important. Safety is definitely important. And I think I think they're going to bring fire back. That's that was just kind of the sentiment I got from hearing Ryan Poles talk about it. So I think it'll be more like more likely one safety they'll have their dress like the time to bring someone in that's new through the draft or free agency. So yeah I kind of agree with you there I think tackles probably the more business at least like bringing some competition. Don't just like set it and forget it with the O'Bennett and I'm glad you brought up Joe Tune starting on the playoffs. That is something I would not want to do. I just think you're you're making Tune so much of a worse player playing him out of position. Is he a bad left tackle? No. That was never my argument. I'm just thinking I'm just saying like you're not leaving your best possible line about there putting him at left tackle. Can he get you out of a game absolutely but we saw when she run run up and I know the Ram's defense is really good and he played solid for that game. No doubt about it. I'm not trying to take anything away from him. Joe Tune is awesome. We talked we talked about him at length. We called him the best offseason edition. Maybe like top three offensive edition of all the offseason. But I think you saw the interior kind of suffer not having him there. And that's not what I want to do. He's an all pro caliber player. Like the probably one of the arguably the best player in his position when he's playing at guard. I just like I wouldn't want to do that. Especially when you're going to have options to find I think comparable play at tackle. So that's definitely something I'm not interested in doing. I think it's just really what kind of competition do you want to add? Do you want to go all out and be really aggressive? Because there are guys hitting the market that are going to make real deal money. I'm looking at Rashid Walker for the Packers who's played solid ball over his career. He's really developed nicely for a seventh round pick. I don't know if you're going to go that expensive because right now he's projected $21 million. But like if the Bears wanted to clear cap and be aggressive, they could. I'm glad Senator you brought it up. You have to be weary about how you clear that cap. DJ Morris contract and Dale Grady. I'm not touching any of those deals to make more money. So it's really who else can you touch to make more money? Because I just think they have to be responsible. But they have a lot of needs and only so few resources to address those needs. You know what you got to be creative, right? I would maybe restructure Montess Wet. I think you can get away with restructuring coal command. I think he wants to stay a bear. Maybe he takes a little bit of a price cut on there. But then you have to explore the trade and the value. You might see a trade. It's crazy. You might see like a DJ more. I don't know. There's a random tackle. And you see someone that's lower caliber of a player than DJ more. Or you might see a trade of like a DJ more where you get like a fifth or six from. But the gift in that is that the acquiring team is taking on the full contract, clearing, you know, north of $20 million. There's teams like the Raiders that tie into who need a wide receiver who have the cat flexibility to do something. That might be a gift in his own. Maybe you get a, you know, a depth off of the tackle. What have it is in that there might be something like that. Or maybe you do that which remain at events. I don't know if anyone's taken a contract. But like I'm just saying like when it comes to exploring creativity and using other teams via trade, maybe help your situation. I think you got to, you got to knock down that door to get there. Or what I'm saying. Yeah, absolutely. I definitely know what you're saying. I definitely know what you're getting at. And that's what yeah, it's going to, this is the type of offseason where you're at really like across roads. And obviously you're contending and that's how you should treat your team. But you don't want to like totally ruin your future. And I think you can do that by kicking more money down the road on some of the bad contracts that you have. And I think there are other creative ways to get around that. Leave those contracts alone. You mentioned the DJ more trade. I think that's almost an insesity at this point. It's unfortunate that the Bears don't have a lot of leverage in that trade. So like I said, I wouldn't be surprised if it was only for like a fifth or six. I think it'll be probably like a fourth or fifth round pick. But the main goal there is just a dump salary because you have so many other needs than a third wide receiver. And we'll talk about the rest of the position. But let's transition a bit to the draft and kind of the options they'll have there. So the two top offensive tackles that I just don't think the Bears are going to have any prayer at drafting are Francis Francis Mooga from Miami and then Spencer Fano from Utah. I don't think the Bears are going to have a chance at either of those guys. They sound like closer to top 15 picks. So unless the Bears are like a really aggressive and a trade-up, which again, I doubt that they would be. And supposedly they're not even like like a world class type of prospects anyway. I just don't really see them being realistic. But that next tier, I think the Bears could draft any one of these guys. I mean, I don't cater in Proctor as the one I've seen linked to them the most. I just don't think that's a good fit at all. People kind of see Proctor maybe having to move inside the guard because they question kind of the overall athleticism. He's really big. And I think just watching them. Yeah, I've watched Alabama like they're offense like a handful times. And I think it's more of like a gap power centric system. Like I don't think he's really good. The Bears ran outside zone at the 26% of their run plays, which was like the eighth highest in the league. And I think that's what they're going to continue to do based on how this offensive line is built. I don't really see him being a great fit despite him being mocked there all the time. Caleb Lommu, Monroe Freelink, Blake Miller, I think any of those could be in play. Blake Miller is like kind of all over the place for people. I could see him being realistic in the second round. But if the Bears were going to draft one of these guys center, I think that it'd be like anywhere from 25 to I think they picked 58. Was their next traffic if they were realistically going to take one of these guys. There's some like sneaky dudes like in this class that are like they have like the frame, but then they're also athletic, right? But they're like though like you're talking about guys that are like you know three three 10 to three 20. But I almost like those fits with Ben Johnson and that athletic ability. I don't know our measurements on some of these guys, but I almost like those those fits. I think maybe you can get in round two like a Blake Miller or a or the kid from a Northwestern Caleb Tiernan as well who was kind of highly to it going in. I can see them taking a swing in that range. I could definitely see him taking a swing at that range. I think past probably about Tiernan, there's like a pretty big tier drop at least on the consensus board. So like third round, I don't know if you're really getting the value. I know people like Isaiah World, but he tore his ACL and I just like I don't I don't know if you're really counting on him to be much this year. So yeah, it's a pretty steep drop off from that one tier max. I I don't even know how to pronounce it is the office attack from Arizona State. He's getting a lot of love. He I think had a really strong senior goal And I think he's about to blow up the combine so that's another name to watch out for this they're gonna chase athletes at this position I would just find it funny center if they're not funny because it's disappointing that Aussie Trapilo Tor his ruptured his his patella, but they attacked the position the same way and Did go off and stack was like you have so many like round two picks and different investments. It's like The best man would really win eventually when Aussie's able to play and then like again Your frustrated because it's your your still tied to the Aussie Trapilo injury It's like damn like you had such a great value with a second real big on a rookie contract He looks solid as home getting settled in but you know you take that out of context now Hey, you had two round two guys have you competing for the best spot and then you have some depth behind Darnell right it's actually and man, you may be one of these guys that you draft Maybe they have guard versatility and maybe they replaced tuning long-term You know, it's actually not when you look at it in a long-term lens and a depth lens and what you need to depth when you're having these deep Seasons right you lost your p-load. Maybe you could have used a an extra second-round pick You know to take place. It's actually And I get it you have needs defensive line all over the place have needs that safety you never need that CV You have a need that inside line backer like I totally get it it almost feels like hey We have Trapilo. Why are we gonna waste another high-end pick? Well, wait a minute It's a very valuable position some of these guys have inside out versatility When it comes now the goals are seems to be longer right and it's hard to manifest for guys to stay healthy So for you to be locked and loaded next guy up with some, you know, proud of premium talent high graphic. It's not actually a Bad team building strategy as well. You don't have to rush to peel in at all So again, I know it's a tough pill to swallow because you thought you had such a cheap value moving forward and you can get settled in it's It's it's not it's not a bad situation out of team bill. It's not a bad team building strategy to Kind of use some premium capital on the position. I think it was underrated to how Healthy the Bears offensive on stayed throughout the season like they obviously had their like I think you know We tweaked injuries and sometimes guys miss games, but like overall this was a really healthy group and I think We're a little bit overlooking like not regression on offense because I don't think they're gonna regress like I'm more confident in Ben Johnson and just the staff developing some of these players like I'm expecting jumps from Rome and burden and we saw a leveling's ascension, but like I Don't want to make this offseason like all about the defense where you're just like totally Ignoring and collecting the the offense because we've seen teams run themselves into trouble sometimes because the injury variance Just totally eats away at the offense like it didn't the year prior and I hope that doesn't happen to the Bears But like it's something to work bringing up and like you said making in another investment if you have If you draft a tackle that could play guard and then you get Aussie back and one of your guys gets hurt like boom You're right there like I don't Jonah Jackson has been known to have injury issues in his past and he didn't last year And that was great, but like can you count on that two years in a row? We'll see But yeah, I think that's definitely worth mentioning that it's really important to have depth at this position for this offense to that wants to run the ball I think in the playoffs Use it against the ramp and against the Packers. I guess in some regard They just didn't have the same teeth. They're running game didn't and I think that was more so in the what the Rams Because they came up really predictable on those meaningful plays they ran to Darnel right side and the Rams kind of just knew that what they were doing so Yeah, it's definitely worth Definitely a conversation worth having like should this be higher on the Totem Bowl and I wouldn't be angry if they did Draft one in the first round or draft one in the second round time. Let me ask you I think I just seen this on Twitter. I didn't really look into it at all I don't know if it's anything smoke there that maybe like a tailored Decker could be like a kept casualty for the lines I don't know if they would do that and make make a big need But you know, I would pay some money to get that familiarity back with Ben Johnson and maybe have him just anchor that left side for a year or two I that I wouldn't be opposed to that I don't like be a little costly, but and then you're just upset on that line and it's kind of exciting I'm like building a mad and offensive line there Yeah, that would be awesome. I mean if he hit I'm sure they could probably trade him and I don't know what he costs at a trade I wouldn't like I know he's kind of played not his best ball in recent years, but like he's still like Starting Calcutta Yeah, I would do that in a heartbeat But yeah, I mean that's definitely I haven't really exploited the trade record because like when do you see like offense tackle trades Like the Larry Muntunce trade. I thought was rare Yeah, see him get moved the way he did and I like going looking back on it I like if I was the bear's I would have been all over that because you just like don't have to worry about but you know They they what the route they did and honestly it wasn't a bad route the way that they went but yeah in terms of trade candidates I'm not really sure because usually when you have a left tackle you want to keep those guys Yeah, I guess that was one of those Twitter tweets I stumbled across and it's like oh anyway That's cool and then put any thought in it. Yeah, you're right. Those guys don't just hit the markets got free Yeah, for sure All right, why don't send it I want to end the show and I know you got a hot body here in a little bit And you could hop out here whatever because I'm going to end the show Been watching some prospects and like we said we want to we want to be a little bit more into it With these guys give you guys a deeper break down and obviously the bear's focus is going to be on the defensive line I think that's where they're going to go with their first round pick So I've been watching some of the guys. I think we'll be available in that range inside of theirs To got I'm going to break the the duos. I want to talk about into duos There's the Clemson guys who I think had very high expectations this year and fell a little short where I do think they were Realistically be in play for the bear's at least one of them will and then there's One guy I knew nothing about that I really like and then one guy who's been getting all the buzz that I didn't really like Who would you talk about the Clemson guys or the other two guys I just mentioned Let's talk about the other two guys Okay, cuz yeah, I think this direction. I wanted to go so I'll start negative More negative because I still like things about him as a player and I'll end positive with the guy who I was pleasantly surprised by So Kayla banks from Florida He so he's an interesting player center So he spent two years at Louisville transferred to Florida played two years at Florida And then he stayed for his fifth season but got hurt this year I think he broke his foot and was only able to play like the last two games and like just like kind of wasn't the same after the injury But he goes to the senior bowl and dominate at the senior bowl I think on the second and third day he like people are right about him and he's had his stock is grown tremendously since then I've seen him in the top ten of mock drafts and when you look at him He's like the the traity player in this class and this defensive line class So yeah, and Kayla Banks is an interior defensive lineman from Florida. I should probably open with that 66 330 pounds 35 inch arms and when you watch him the tools for a guy that size Are off the charts like his best reps are like jaw dropping wow this guy can move He can get into the backfield like he can shoot gaps one floor to let him do it I think like the one on the one v one pass rush rep the one v one pass Rush wins Are so enticing like he's able to flash quick hands Just discard guys to the side and really like create havoc and disrupt and like for a Dennis Allen system that they Want to get those guys up the field that's really really enticing So I the high end is as good as anybody in the class and it really makes you think this guy can be like a total difference maker at the next level The issues I have and why I'm not as high on him is I just thought the pass rush consistency wasn't there I don't I don't think like he wins enough To justify that like just saying like all the sky's a dominant passers like his high end is awesome What's really just in spurts and flashes The ls u game in 2024 and the old miss game in 2024 I was like okay if I can get this game every single game I'm with you but you don't get that game every single game. I'm not saying it's like an effort thing I just think like he kind of just like Just dies down throughout games and like just doesn't he just doesn't bring that same energy that same fire I think some of the patchwork plan stuff is lacking And then also my big concern with him is while being such a large human He plays so high. It's kind of the urban extra thing and they're they're kind of similar players both from Florida both really tall both big He plays so high against the run and he just gets taken for rides and against double teams because he's playing so high And then also I think the most underrated part of playing interior defensive line especially in the league to be really good Is you have to know what the offense is doing you have to be able to diagnose run blocking schemes And you got to be able to find the ball by doing that if you can do that you usually find the ball a lot And I just like with banks. He just looks so lost all the time On those pin pull schemes. I cannot get the Tennessee game out of my mind They are just down blocking him over and over and over again And he's not seeing it and granted Florida does not really put these guys into positions to succeed It's a rena react type of defense. We had the same, it's so funny. We had the same conversation with Jervon Dexter. Hey, this guy doesn't fire off the ball consistently and he's always kind of waiting for the action to happen. That's kind of how the defense is designed because of the college game and RPOs. They want those guys to just kind of stay at the line of scrimmers and get their hands up on some of those RPO plays so that definitely could be a problem with Kayla Banks and like not being projectible to the league. But ultimately, like he still just like doesn't know what's going on enough. And when you're talking about, okay, yeah, I'm sold on the high end if you can try to maximize that with better coaching, I'm all about that. But when you're counting on a guy to be an every down starter which you would be taking him at 25, even though it sounds like he won't even go at 25, I get concerned about that because the issues you have right now, you can't stop the run up front. And I don't think Kayla Banks solves that for you. I think he has a very low floor in that regard from what I've seen so far, just being playing high. And then him just kind of getting caught off guard not making plays on the ball, not finding guys in the backfield. I think when he, like it's a head on situation, he can stack up blocks, he can shed at the line of scrimmage. But how often is that really happening in today's NFL? Like you're not just, guys aren't just running power plays right at you every single time. Like we saw in college, that the diversity of run schemes I thought really gave him a lot of trouble. So that's why I just, I worry about him. And I think Siner had to hop off. So I would just continue to talk through the other guy I also liked. But that's where I struggle with Banks. I do ultimately see it. And I'm sure Ryan Poles and the staff, I'm sure Dennis Allen really likes him because of what he's able to do as a pass rusher, how he's able to get up field when he's let loose. I just thought that the high end happened a lot less than I would feel comfortable with. And I think the floor in terms of run defense is pretty scary for me, which is why I did not love him. But I definitely see it. Like I definitely see why he's getting hyped. There's not many players in this class with the size that he has, with the length that he has. And the athleticism and if a team is willing to say, we'll develop the rest. So be it, I don't think the bears are in a situation. To do that, because of they just need instant upgrades along the interior defense line. And one of the worst interior defense lines in league last year, especially from our own defense standpoint, I don't think he solves that. And this is a developmental position anyway. Like even the guys that played well in college, I think it's just a different game in the league because first of all, you're asked to do so many different things. Your schemes are way different. And there's a lot less RPOs. There's a lot less read and react. You had to just have to know and go. I should patent that, no one go. But that's that's seriously what you have to do on the interior defense line. And there's one player we'll talk about eventually. Peter Woods, I think is like perfect. Like he's so good at recognizing what the offense is doing. And he finds the ball a lot because of it. And I just don't think that's banks. Banks just caught out of position too many times. And he's just kind of looking around. So yeah, I struggle with him. Even though I know he's definitely rising up some boards. Lee Hunter, let's transition to him. This is the guy who I was shocked by was not expecting. Sorry, too. Before I go on to Hunter, I should probably mention to banks. It's a fifth. I mentioned he's a fifth year player. He's an older player too. So it's not like there's a super young guy that like hasn't played a lot of football. Like that has not been the case with banks. Like he shouldn't be further along. We'll talk about Lee Hunter too, who I think I have some of the same reservations with. But I ended up liking a lot more than Caleb Banks. So Lee Hunter spent two years at UCF. This is the defensive tackle. He's kind of like this is the nose tackle for Texas Tech this year. Spent two years at UCF or three years at UCF and then went over to Texas Tech. Man, I think just like when you look at him as a player, you're expecting him to just be this space eating nose tackle. That's not really what he was. He could be that at times. He was more of a penetrating attacking player who gets into the backfield and makes plays. He's a really good, really surprisingly good pass rusher. I talked about on Twitter like that the argument between Kate and McDonald and Lee Hunter. The reason I cited with Lee Hunter is because I just think there's way more pass rush chops there. Like there's legitimate one B1 wins. I think he has like a power centric move set down. He can drive you into the quarterback's lap and then just kind of just discard you at that moment where you need to find the ball and get to the quarterback. I also thought like there's his or swim moves on his tape. There's swipes like he can attack half a man really well. He pushes pull he pushed pulls people like he's got the pass rush moves set down, which was really surprising to me for a guy who's so big. I think he came in at the senior bowl. I know he had 34 inch arms. I think he was like six three three 25. So this is a big boy. And he's he's out here like winning one V1 at the senior bowl. He played really well. But I really love bottom two. It's he's like Jolm of guys all the time. Like he you love the competitive kind of demeanor that comes with him. Those are my kind of players. Like he he plays tough. And then he also like backs it up with he's just Jolm all the time on I posted a clip on Twitter. It's like one of the funniest reps ever. He reads a screen out and he doesn't I think he he doesn't even end up making the play because he doesn't make the play. He covers up the running back that's leaking out for a screen. And the running backs looking for a flag. He's like all over him. But it's a screen. So it's not past interference. And so when they both get up his the running backs arm is under Lee Hunters. I'm sorry. The running backs leg is under Lee Hunters arm. And he doesn't even carry just gets up while it's holding his leg and he's just jolm with them the whole time. Like that's the kind of experience you get when watching a Lee Hunter. And this was a guy I heard nothing no buzz like throughout the season in terms of a round one player. And it kind of makes sense. He's going to be 24 years older is 24 years old. Those guys usually don't go in the first round that are that old. But you don't find guys that big who can head on situations I think he's really good against the run. Like I think he can to gap. He finds the ball really well when he's able to stack up blockers and to gap that way. I don't think that's a problem for him at all. I do think he kind of suffers from some of the same issues. Banks is like the run blocking diagnosing doesn't happen a whole lot for him. It happens more than a guy like Banks. Banks I didn't see it at all. Like I don't see this guy like knowing where the ball is going. I didn't see like I don't think I saw one rep where he's like diagnosing that and making that happen. That happens more banks like he'll cut across faces on down blocks with pin pull schemes and stuff like that. He'll on zone. He's not getting reach blocked. Like he's definitely like cutting across their body and holding his gap. I don't think those things happen. Like it's not all bad. But it happens too many times where he'll get caught off guard and be out of the play. And that you wish was further along for an older player. I also think he's like really narrow. He doesn't really play with great pad level. So on duo blocks and stuff like that, people kind of just bump him out of gaps. He'll stack up one blocker. The offensive line next to the guy he's stacking. We'll just kind of bump him out of his gap and that happens quite a few times because he plays so tall and upright. He's so narrow. I think he'll also have some issues and certain run locking schemes. But overall, I didn't think that the run defense was that much of a problem to where I'd be like, yeah, I'm not going to buy into what this guy can be as a pass rusher and what he already is. Like I'm pretty fired up about what he already is as a pass rusher. It's hard to kind of quantify with him because he is 24. He did have his best year this year. And like, is how much is that? Is he just older than everyone else? And he's just physically dominating people because that's what he does. He does physically dominate people. He can win with power. He can just throw you out of the way. He does all those things. And it's like, is this going to work as one league? Are you just stronger than everybody else? That's always a question with these older guys. But I think at 25, I'd be willing to find out. I think he's a perfect fit in terms of finding the nose tackle of Dennis Allen's defense that you can trust to get up the field. I know people want Garmin Dexter to be that guy. I just don't know. I don't know if you're getting that out of Jervon at this point. I think he has too many problems against the run. And I don't know if Lee Hunter has that. Lee Hunter at least has length. And that's why I'm really intrigued. I think that provides you a different floor against the run than a guy like Jervon Dexter does. But yeah, I'm pretty damn intrigued with Lee Hunter. And I'm definitely would-- I know it's probably-- it seems like an unpopular opinion. But I would definitely consider at 25 because of the two-way nature that he provides, any team that he gets drafted to. I'm really fired up about him. I think that's all the draft prospects I want to get into. Again, we're going to be coming each episode. We're going to, at the very end, we'll talk about two guys. Right now, I have Lee Hunter. I haven't watched. So I'm still working my way through this class. I'm probably not going to watch all the depth guys until later on. But right now, Lee Hunter is my DT2. I have him just slightly above, Kate and McDonald. I'm sure the testing will change that. One way or the other, either it will bump guys up higher, obviously, the fall down lower. And then I have Caleb Banks is my last ranked of the five that I've watched. So that's where I'm weighing. at the DT class, I think it's a pretty good class where the Bears would be taking one. And yeah, we'll just keep coming at you guys with more interior defensive line takes, more prospect takes. I think that's going to be it for us today. So I hope you enjoyed this episode until we meet again. Y'all keep it real. Fair to.