What Line Stability Can Mean for Bears

Bears switching up the offensive line again this week but constant change up front is only par for the course since this coaching staff took over.

It appears Tyson Bagent will have at least one Bears starting lineman blocking for him this week at a position where that blocker had originally been intended to play.

Darnell Wright's return to practice on Friday has coach Matt Eberflus believing the rookie will be available to play right tackle despite a shoulder injury.

"Yeah, I do feel that," Eberflus told reporters Friday. "I do feel that. Again, we're going to assess it later today but today he looked like he was in a good spot."

They'll have Cody Whitehair, too, but it could be at left guard and not center, which was where they intended him to play this year. The rest of the line could have Teven Jenkins not at his regular spot of left guard but at right guard, where he played last year. He'd be replacing injured Nate Davis, who could go on injured reserve this weekend.

It's just an average week for the Bears offensive line, as they shuffle the lineup like a deck of cards every week.

"In terms of the O-line depth, we've had a lot of different combinations this week and we'll see where that goes during the course," Eberflus said.

Does it really matter that the Bears seem to be forever switching offensive linemen and switching positions? The answer is probably it matters more who they're switching their lineup to and not that they're simply switching so much.

• In 2020, the Green Bay Packers won the NFC North title and switched starting offensive lines seven times due to injuries.

• In 2021, the Packers won the NFC North title again and switched starting offensive lines six times as a result of injuries.

• In 2022, the Minnesota Vikings took the North and switched starting offensive lines five times

• However, this year the Lions are the class of the NFC North and have had five offensive line switches in six weeks.

Then again, it's fairly obvious switching too much when the line isn't really established, like with the Bears, it can have the expected result.

The Bears have given up the most sacks in the NFL since 2021. In 2022 they switched starting offensive lines 11 times. This year they have switched five times in six weeks, and this week will switch a sixth time in seven weeks.

"I think thats a good point, but a lot of times you're forced into those issues with injuries," Eberflus said. "We've had a lot of injuries in that. We've had a lot of different combinations.

"When we first got here we were trying to find out the best combinations. And then this year during training camp we had a lot of injuries. So I think we were forced into that this year a little bit. But we do the best we can."

It's true, but just another example of why depth means so much to teams every year and why the personnel department always needs to be addressing this situation.

Bears Starting Offensive Lines

2022 Weeks and lineups

1/2:     LT Jones LG Whitehair C Mustipher RG Jenkins RT Borom

3/4:     LT Jones LG Whitehair C Mustipher RG Patrick RT Borom

5/6:     LT Jones LG Patrick     C Mustipher RG Jenkins RT Borom

7:        LT Jones LG Schofield  C Patrick      RG Jenkins RT Borom

8:        LT Jones LG Schofield  C Mustipher RG Jenkins RT Reiff

9:        LT Jones LG Whitehair C Mustipher RG Jenkins RT Reiff

10/11: LT Jones LG Whitehair C Mustipher RG Schofield RT Reiff

12/14: LT Jones LG Whitehair C Mustipher RG Jenkins    RT Reiff

15:      LT Jones LG Borom      C Mustipher RG Schofield RT Reiff

16:     LT Jones LG Whitehair C Mustipher RG Jenkins RT Reiff

17:     LT Jones LG Whitehair C Mustipher RG Borom RT Reiff

2023 Weeks and Lineups

1:      LT Jones, LG Whitehair, C Patrick     RG Davis,  RT Wright

2:     LT Jones LG Whitehair C Patrick       RG Carter   RT Wright

3:     LT Borom LG Whitehair C Patrick     RG Carter  RT Wright

4-5: LT Borom LG Whitehair C Patrick     RG Davis   RT Wright

6:     LT Borom LG Jenkins    C Whitehair RG Davis   RT Wright

7*   LT Borom LG Whitehair C Patrick     RG Jenkins RT Wright

*Projected lineup for Week 7

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