Getty Bears OL Braxton Jones is ready to battle for a starting spot on the O-line.
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles drafted four offensive lineman in the later rounds of the 2022 draft, including Braxton Jones and Zachary Thomas.
The Bears selected Jones in the fifth round (168th overall) out of Southern Utah and Thomas in Round 6 out of San Diego State (No. 186 overall) and now, both have the chance to become starters on the line in 2022. After seeing where both Jones and Thomas lined up in minicamp, the Bears may have revealed where they see each rookie playing — and possibly starting — when the regular season rolls around.
During the team’s rookie minicamp, Thomas lined up at right guard, which is where former starter James Daniels (now with the Pittsburgh Steelers) played, while Jones took starting snaps at left tackle — which is where second-year OL Larry Borom lined up during the team’s voluntary veteran minicamp in April.
Thus, it’s looking like Thomas is competing for the RG slot vacated by Daniels, while Jones may be competing against Borom for starting snaps.
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Bears GM Ryan Poles ‘Tepid’ on Borom & Teven Jenkins
Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times noted Poles — who is a former O-lineman himself — has not gone out of his way to say glowing things about either Borom or Tevin Jenkins, both of whom were key draft picks for Poles’ successor, Ryan Pace, in 2021. The Bears moved up in Round 2 to select Jenkins, who wound up starting two games at LT, while playing in six after sitting out most of the year recovering from back surgery. Borom, a fifth-round pick last year, started eight games and played 546 snaps at right tackle.
Potash says both will be battling rookies for starting spots this year.
“Tackles Teven Jenkins and Larry Borom would have been foundation pieces under former general manager Ryan Pace,” Potash wrote on May 7. “But with tepid-at-best endorsements of both players from Poles, it’s pretty clear that Jenkins and Borom will be competing for the starting jobs they had at the end of the Pace regime.”
Potash then singled out Jones and Thomas as names to monitor.
“Jones and sixth-round pick Zachary Thomas bear watching,” Potash added. “It might be a long shot for any rookie lineman to win a starting job, but let’s see how things shake out. Jenkins was a high draft pick, and Borom has experience. But -nowhere is it better to be a Poles guy than a Pace guy than on the offensive line.”
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Thomas & Jones Should Be Depth Additions if They Don’t Start
Thomas has a flexibility on the line Chicago seems to find attractive. He played 858 snaps at left tackle for the Aztecs in 2021, 564 snaps at right tackle in 2020 and 643 snaps on the right side in 2019, per PFF. He may not wind up replacing Daniels, but he should give the team nice depth at both tackle positions.
Jones played exclusively at left tackle in college, so it’s no surprise to see him remaining at the position he knows well. In 1,500 snaps played for the Thunderbirds from 2019-2021, the 6-foot-5, 310-pound Jones gave up three sacks, three QB hits and 13 hurries.
Now that he’s a pro, he seems to be focusing in on all the right things, which is a good sign for the Bears.
“Obviously, as a rookie, you can’t come in like you’ve already got the job done,” Jones said at rookie minicamp on May 7. “You’ve got a lot of stuff to learn. But in the course of playing, you’re trying to take someone’s job. Everyone’s out there to take someone’s job. So I try to approach the playbook like a rookie and try to figure it out. Then on the field, when it comes to finishing and playing hard, you’re approaching that like you’re trying to take someone’s job.”
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