High Rankings for Bears Guards and Tackle

Position ratings for PFF rate the Bears offensive line as being manned by better talent than in recent seasons.

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The offensive line took plenty of blame for problems Justin Fields had getting passes off last season.

It might have even been too much blame considering how long it took Fields to get the ball out of his hand, but there's no way to substantiate this.

Regardless, the Bears apparently through additions and growth are well equipped to move into 2023 and both keep Fields from getting sacked 55 times again while maintaining their No. 1 status in rushing the ball.

At least according to Pro Football Focus this is the case.

The Bears have two guards ranked in the top 25 in the league at their position, and also a highly ranked tackle. This isn't like being ranked a top 25 center, naturally, because there are two tackles and guards in every starting lineup but one center.

Bears right guard Nate Davis ranks 21st among guards according to PFF, while Teven Jenkins ranks No. 24.

And second-year tackle Braxton Jones ranks 26th among players at both tackle positions.

The guard position ranking is somewhat curious because Davis, first, is getting some scrutiny at the moment for not being at OTAs this week with a new team in a new offense after signing a $30 million contract.

Also, he might be 21st but he's still ranked one spot below the player the Bears had at this position two years ago, James Daniels.

"Pass blocking has been an issue for Davis in the NFL so far, but he's coming off a season where he posted a career-high 66.8 PFF grade in that facet, allowing 14 total pressures on 385 pass-blocking snaps," Gordon McGuinness of PFF points out.

The fact Jenkins is ranked 24th behind both Davis and Daniels might surprise. In fact, PFF had Jenkins rated the third best guard in the NFL last year.

McGuinness cited his missed games due to injuries as a reason.

Not cited, but a legitimate reason nonetheless, was the fact he is moving positions again to left guard. His No. 3 ranking in the league for PFF came at right guard.

Just like with Jenkins, Jones has slid in this PFF projection from where he was graded at the end of last year. They website had him 19th among tackles in the league in 2022 but now he is rated 26th.

"He allowed 40 total pressures as a rookie but only 12 in the final eight games of the season," McGuinness wrote for PFF.

Rookie Darnell Wright was not rated in the top 32 tackles at the position. Rookie tackles normally find it difficult cracking into the top half of the league for starters, although Jones did it last year as a fifth-round draft pick.

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