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    • The state of the Bears’ offensive line says little for GM Ryan Poles
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    The state of the Bears’ offensive line says little for GM Ryan Poles

    Online Niel Posted on

    There is no better indicator of where the Bears offense is than where their offensive line rates.

    Although The Athletic rates Caleb Williams behind Bo Nix now among rookie QBs and the Bears offense in general is struggling, everything could look better except for the decline of their line.

    Pro Football Focus has its offensive rankings and the Bears have dropped six spots as a result of their performance against Arizona.

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

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

    So while Williams faces constant criticism, he also faces a constant pass rush. The six sacks last week were typical.

    The biggest issue facing the offensive line right now is health, but depth is one area where they haven’t come up short.

    It looks like they will get left tackle Braxton Jones back to at least try to play against New England. But Darnell Wright didn’t practice this week until Thursday.

    They could have guarded Ryan Bates this week as he is working toward full health and could return from IR. He could still serve in a backup role.

    They certainly aren’t moving their center Coleman Shelton now.

    “Right now, I think Ryan has done a great job of getting back into the mix coming off the injury,” offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said Thursday. “I think Coleman did a great job controlling the inside of the line in terms of communication and calls. Then every week we’ll have to deal with injuries or different things that happen where guys will be training and getting ready to play multiple spots. in the game and we know we have all the confidence in the world in Ryan to play all three interior spots.

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    “But as each week goes by, we’ll evaluate it by the end of the week and as different circumstances play out, but in that sense, right now, we’re looking for Ryan, he continues to put good things on tape in every day. he practices as if he has continued to do as he has been working since rehab.”

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

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

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

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

    “Jenkins has allowed a pressure on 4.2 percent of his passing plays this season, the best rate of his career,” Buday wrote.

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

    Twitter: BearsOnSI

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