:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66291747/1186928162.jpg.0.jpg)
Cody Whitehair - Signed through 2024 - The Chicago Bears know they have a good football player in Whitehair, but finding a permanent home for him on the o-line should be a priority. He’s capable of playing either center or guard, but he struggled a bit to acclimate to left guard at the beginning of the 2019 season after being moved from center. He then took a bit to find some comfort when being flipped back to center around mid-season, so getting him to one position — and one position only — should be in the cards.
Wanting his veteran presence in the middle of two young guards (James Daniels and Rashaad Coward) was a wise move, and getting his experience in calling pass protection was necessary with a struggling offense, but hopefully with another offseason of studying everyone can grasp the mental side of the scheme better in 2020 and the Bears can trust the players to make the right presnap calls.
Sam Mustipher - Signed through 2021 - Center is often a spot where it takes young players a few years to grow into a prominent role, so keeping a young guy around on the practice squad is smart. Mustipher had a nice preseason a year ago, and I could see the Bears giving him another year on the practice squad.
2020 OUTLOOK - I do like James Daniels’ athleticism at guard, so if that ends up his permanent home, then so be it, but the Bears need to figure their positions out as soon as possible. The offensive line needs continuity and that only comes with playing next to each other over and over and over...
On my recent T Formation Conversation podcast, EJ Snyder and I broke down Washington center Nick Harris, and EJ has a nice theory that the Bears could draft another interior offensive lineman capable of snapping the ball, giving Chicago three center/guard types to get the best men possible in their spots.
I asked Jacob Infante to give me his thoughts on a possible NFL Draft eligible center and he likes Tyler Biadasz from the Wisconsin Badgers saying as “a three-year starter at a prestigious offensive line school, Biadasz is a technically-sound blocker with great athleticism for the position. Though he’s a natural center, the Bears could draft him in the second round and shift him over to guard and likely see plenty of success.”
If the Bears decide to go the free agency route to fill an interior spot on their o-line, it’ll likely be at guard rather than center.
What would you like to see the Bears do at center in 2020?