The Bears may have decided on their replacement for Sam Mustipher for the 2023 season.
According to Courtney Cronin of ESPN, the Cody Whitehair is expected to move back to center for the 2023 NFL season. “A closer look at the reason for some of the 55 sacks Fields took in 2022 was the play along the interior of the line. That led the Bears to add Davis, who started 54 games at right guard for Tennessee in the past four seasons. The expectation is that Teven Jenkins will move to left guard and Cody Whitehair will slot at center. But the work is far from over. The lack of sturdiness up front means Chicago will need to be active in adding linemen, particularly at offensive tackle.”
Whitehair, the 56th pick in the 2016 draft, is one of the longest tenured Bears. He started his career at center for the first three seasons despite being drafted to be a guard. In 2019, he switched with James Daniels to become the LG, though he switched back midseason as the Bears OL struggled mightily. In 2020, he started the season at center, then after injuries, returned to LG as Sam Mustipher remained the starter at C. Whitehair has played the past two seasons at LG. Whitehair has had some issues in the past with snapping the ball, but as a blocker and player overall he is definitely better than Mustipher. He appears to be the short-term fix at C, with Lucas Patrick being the top IOL backup at C and G, as they prepare Doug Kramer or a new draft pick to be the center of the future after they didn’t sign any in free agency.
The Nate Davis signing, a top-tier RG, moves Teven Jenkins to LG. Jenkins was very good for the Bears last season and hopefully will be here for the long-term. He played LT in his rookie year, so the change should not be too much for him.
Davis and Jenkins appear to be the Bears guards of the future. Now, the Bears have one of the best guard duos in the NFL, plus a better center. Braxton Jones is definitely going to be a starter next season at one of the tackle spots, and a draft pick early will likely fill the other, whether it is Paris Johnson Jr, Peter Skoronski, or one of the lower prospects with a trade down or day 2 pick. They could also add another veteran OLineman to compete with Larry Borom. There remains work to be done on the OL, but it has already been much upgraded from the 2022 version, which is music to Justin Fields’s ears.
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