Getty Dakota Dozier has signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Bears.
The Chicago Bears have added some depth to their offensive line.
The Bears announced on Twitter they have signed former Minnesota Vikings and New York Jets offensive lineman Dakota Dozier to a one-year contract.
Got ourselves a bulldozier. 😤
We have signed @BullDozier78 to a one-year contract.
Dozier, who turns 31 in April, has spent the last three years in Minnesota. His 2021 campaign was cut short after he was hospitalized during a tough bout with COVID-19, as first reported by Courtney Cronin of ESPN. He didn’t play any offensive snaps last season as a result.
The seven-year NFL vet has played both left and right guard since entering the league, and he should be competing for a spot on the roster at one of the two positions for Chicago.
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Dozier: Background, Injury History & Stats
A fourth round pick for the Jets in 2014 (137th overall), Dozier played his college ball at Furman University, where he started 44 games, all at left tackle, so he has moved around on the line over the years.
Dozier didn’t see the field in 2014, but he played in 38 games for the Jets from 2015-2018, starting seven. He landed with the Vikings in 2019, where he became a key contributor on o-line in 2019-20, playing in 32 games and starting 20 over those two years.
His numbers over his last two seasons (2019 and 2020) aren’t great, so the likelihood is that the 6-foot-4, 312-pound Dozier will be trying to secure a spot on Chicago’s 53-man roster when the 2022 regular season rolls around. In 360 snaps on offense in 2019, Dozier allowed 18 pressures, four quarterback hits and 2.0 sacks, earning a 51.5 overall grade from Pro Football Focus.
He didn’t fare much better as a full-time starter in 2020. In 1,083 total snaps, he surrendered 46 total pressures, nine QB hits and 6.0 sacks, while earning a 44.6 overall grade from PFF.
He doesn’t have too many red flags injury-wise, but he didn’t play at all last year, which is a legit concern.
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Dozier Had Rough Time With COVID-19 Last Season
As reported by Cronin in an exclusive for ESPN, Dozier struggled to get back to 100% after testing positive for COVID-19:
“I lost about 10 pounds throughout the process. Even just the walk from my room to the car was maybe a 3-minute walk, and I was gassed,” Dozier told Cronin in December of 2021. “I was really out of breath. Like wow, this is crazy. It took a little bit of time to get that back. Once I had done my 10 days’ quarantine and was allowed to come back in the facility, I came back in and did my first workout and was just really, really smoked.”
“My lungs, the pneumonia aspect of it, I think it really took a toll on me,” he told Cronin about his bout with COVID. “As an athlete, you’re always training, you’re always on the go, year-round you’re always doing something. But to be sedentary for that amount of time is something my body just really isn’t used to. On top of being ill, it really took my conditioning away from me.”
Dozier spent most of the 2021 season on the Vikings’ practice squad after starting in 2020, so questions remain about what kind of condition he’ll be in. We’ll find out soon enough.
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