Bear Digest

What Bears Offensive Line Status Says for GM Ryan Poles

Analysis: The Bears offensive line continues to underperform and has taken a fall in Pro Football Focus grades to a degree that it reflects on the team's GM.

Gene Chamberlain

Center Coleman Shelton and guard Teven Jenkins communicate before the snap against the Cardinals. It appears Shelton has done well enough to maintain even after Ryan Bates returns.
Center Coleman Shelton and guard Teven Jenkins communicate before the snap against the Cardinals. It appears Shelton has done well enough to maintain even after Ryan Bates returns. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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No better indicator exists for where the Bears offense stands than where their offensive line rates.

Although The Athletic is rating Caleb Williams behind Bo Nix now among rookie QBs, and the Bears offense overall is struggling, the entire thing might look better except for their line's decline.

Pro Football Focus has it's offensive line rankings out and the Bears have dropped six full spots as a result of their performance against Arizona.

When the season was about to begin, they were ranked 11th by PFF.

Now, they rank 26th. This is real regression in an area that is supposed to be a strength area for Bears GM Ryan Poles, as he was an offensive lineman for a very short period in the NFL. It doesn't say much for offensive line coach Chris Morgan, either.

So while Williams faces constant criticism, he's also facing a constant pass rush. Last week's six sacks was typical.

The biggest problem facing the offensive line now is health but depth is one area where they haven't come up short.

It appears they'll get left tackle Braxton Jones back to at least attempt to play against New England. But Darnell Wright hasn't practiced this week through Thursday.

They could have guard Ryan Bates back this week as he has been working into full health and could return from IR. He might be serving in a backup role, though.

They're definitely not moving center Coleman Shelton out now.

"Right now I think Ryan’s done a great job of working his way back into the mix coming off of injury right there," offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said on Thursday. "I think Coleman’s done a great job of controlling the inside of the line as far as communication and calls. Then every week we’ll have to deal with injuries or different things that are happening where guys will crosstrain and get ready to play multiple spots within the game and we know we have all the confidence in the world in Ryan to play all three of those inside spots.

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"But as every week goes, we’ll evaluate it by the end of the week and as different circumstances play out, but in terms of that right now, we’re just looking for Ryan go keep putting good stuff on tape every day in practice like he’s continued to do as he’s worked back from his rehab."

The Bears currently have allowed sacks on 8.55% of sack plays, worse than all but six other teams. While they have had some injuries, the line has been healthier and kept starters together for a higher percentage of games than either of the last two seasons.

Not all the Bears rating news on the offensive line from PFF is bad.

Guard Matt Pryor had a high PFF mark of 86.6 for his pass blocking. Buday pointed out it was third-best among all guards last week, and his 81.3 was 11th best among all guards.

Buday also had a positive to report on Teven Jenkins. Last week, Jenkins was coming off an injury and questionable for the game but is labeled their best player on the line.

"Jenkins has allowed pressure on 4.2% of pass plays this season, the best rate of his career," Buday wrote.

The bad news here, of course, is Poles hasn't given a new contract to Jenkins and he's slated to be a free agent after this season.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.