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The Chicago Bears got a strong season out of fifth-round rookie Braxton Jones as their starting left tackle in 2022, but the team isn’t dead set on him returning to play the same position for their offense for the 2023 season.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus spoke with reporters on March 28 at the NFL annual meeting in Phoenix and made it clear the door is wide open for Jones to potentially move to right tackle in 2023 — depending on how April’s draft turns out for them.
“That’s all open right now,” Eberflus said, via Jason Lieser of The Chicago Sun-Times. “We have to go through the draft and see what we do there.”
The bit about the Bears first having to “go through the draft” should perk some ears. The Bears currently hold the No. 9 overall selection in the 2023 NFL draft and have been widely speculated to use the pick to target one of the class’ top offensive tackles, the top three of whom all have extensive experience playing left tackle. If the Bears are confident in Jones’ ability to play at right tackle, though, it gives them the flexibility to prioritize the best tackle available instead of trying to specifically find a right-side fit.
Braxton Jones Wants to be ‘Cornerstone’ for Bears
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GettyBraxton Jones wants to be a “cornerback” left tackle for the Bears.
Jones played 1,029 snaps and started all 17 games at Chicago’s blindside spot in 2022, exceeding expectations for a rookie who had been taken with a Day 3 selection. While he did allow seven sacks and 40 pressures over his 542 pass-blocking snaps, he finished the season as Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded rookie offensive tackle (75.4) and the second-best run-blocking tackle (79.4) in the 2022 class, earning him All-Rookie honors from both PFF and the more-acclaimed Pro Football Writers Association.
All in all, that’s a pretty good starting point for Jones in his quest to become a building block for the Bears franchise — and he is fully aware that there is still more work to do.
“I want to be that guy,” Jones said in December, via ChicagoBears.com. “I want to put in the work in the offseason, too, to be that guy and be a cornerstone for this organization. I feel like, obviously, I’ve got a lot of work to do, but just personally, in the way I try and act around the building, I want to be here as long as possible and I feel like I could be a cornerstone for that left tackle position, so I definitely think I do gotta get, obviously, a lot better in certain situations.”
Jones’ desire to become a “cornerstone” left tackle for Chicago is a good one, regardless of whether they cash in their first-round pick on a top rookie prospect. Competition can only make the entire offensive tackle room better, and if Jones digs in hard during the 2023 offseason and manages to win the job, then the Bears will be better for it.
Bears Drafting 1st-Round OT More Likely Than Ever
The Bears have dropped some strong hints about potentially wanting an offensive tackle in the first round of the draft. First off, they made zero additions to the tackle spot during the first wave of free agency despite having some options in varying price ranges. That puts Jones, Alex Leatherwood and Larry Borom in the top three spots on their depth chart heading into 2023, which is no better off than they were last season. Barring an unforeseen trade for a young quality starter, draft investments are going to be absolutely necessary for the position to grow and thrive.
The Bears also sent major scouting contingents — which included offensive line coach Chris Morgan — to see Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski and Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr. in action during their respective pro days earlier in March. Put those facts together with Eberflus’ comment about the draft, and suddenly the chances of the Bears taking a new offensive tackle with the ninth overall pick seem a lot higher than before.
Now, the thing to watch for will be whether general manager Ryan Poles opts to trade back again. According to ESPN 1000’s David Kaplan, the Bears are “absolutely open for business trading pick 9” if the right offers come in, but that wouldn’t necessarily take a first-round offensive tackle off the table for them, especially if they have interest in a wider array of options outside of Skoronski and Johnson — such as Georgia’s Broderick Jones, Tennessee’s Darnell Wright or and Ohio State’s Dawand Jones.
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