The Bears have been pretty rudderless for a while, and last year had the painful experience of watching Jayden Daniels, who they passed on for Caleb Williams, win Rookie of the Year, leading the Commanders to within a game of the Super Bowl.
But give the Bears credit for recognizing part of the problem, and making some early moves this offseason to address it. Chicago looked like it had a bottom-5 offensive line entering last season, and sure enough it performed like it during the year. Statistics alone can be murky in this area (are sacks and rushing yards per attempt more attributable to the quarterbacks and running backs, or the line doing the blocking for them?), but it's difficult to find a statistic that made what Chicago put on the field on the offensive line look good.
Last season, Chicago allowed a league-high 68 sacks. Some of that, as discussed here in the past, can be put on a rookie quarterback holding the ball too long. But they also averaged a league-low 4.0 yards per carry by running backs (and for this, we've removed quarterback rushing from the equation, so teams with running quarterbacks don't benefit; the averages are based only on rushing attempts and yards by running backs).
Table shows sacks allowed, percentage of sacks (pass plays), and yards per attempt, both running and passing (R/A and P/A). With passing, it could be argued that poor line play factored into more short passes being necessary. Pretty much anyway you look at it, Chicago's line was at or near the bottom of the league. Table sorted by sack percentage.
| NFL OFFENSIVE STATS, 2024 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | P/A | Rk | Sk | Rk | Sk% | Rk | R/A(RB) | Rk |
| Buffalo Bills | 7.6 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 2.6 | 1 | 4.6 | 8 |
| Denver Broncos | 6.7 | 23 | 24 | 4 | 4.0 | 2 | 4.1 | 23 |
| Green Bay Packers | 8.2 | 4 | 22 | 2 | 4.4 | 3 | 4.5 | 9 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 8.8 | 1 | 24 | 3 | 4.8 | 4 | 5.6 | 1 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 7.1 | 16 | 30 | 5 | 5.2 | 5 | 5.0 | 4 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 7.3 | 14 | 31 | 6 | 5.3 | 6 | 4.1 | 26 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 7.7 | 8 | 32 | 7 | 5.4 | 7 | 4.7 | 7 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 6.8 | 19 | 32 | 9 | 5.5 | 8 | 4.2 | 15 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 6.4 | 27 | 38 | 14 | 5.6 | 9 | 4.1 | 17 |
| Detroit Lions | 8.6 | 2 | 33 | 10 | 5.7 | 10 | 4.9 | 5 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 7.0 | 17 | 32 | 8 | 5.9 | 11 | 4.5 | 13 |
| Carolina Panthers | 6.2 | 30 | 36 | 12 | 6.2 | 12 | 4.5 | 10 |
| New York Jets | 6.6 | 25 | 40 | 16 | 6.2 | 13 | 4.2 | 16 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 8.3 | 3 | 36 | 11 | 6.3 | 14 | 4.9 | 6 |
| New Orleans Saints | 6.8 | 21 | 37 | 13 | 6.3 | 15 | 4.0 | 28 |
| Kansas City | 6.7 | 24 | 41 | 17 | 6.4 | 16 | 3.7 | 30 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 7.9 | 7 | 40 | 15 | 6.5 | 17 | 5.1 | 3 |
| Miami Dolphins | 6.8 | 20 | 43 | 18 | 6.8 | 18 | 3.9 | 29 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7.5 | 11 | 48 | 21 | 6.9 | 19 | 4.1 | 22 |
| Las Vegas Raiders | 6.5 | 26 | 50 | 26 | 7.3 | 20 | 3.6 | 31 |
| New York Giants | 6.0 | 31 | 48 | 22 | 7.5 | 21 | 4.1 | 19 |
| Los Angeles Chargers | 7.6 | 10 | 44 | 19 | 7.9 | 22 | 4.1 | 24 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 8.0 | 5 | 49 | 23 | 8.2 | 23 | 4.2 | 14 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 7.4 | 13 | 54 | 29 | 8.3 | 24 | 4.1 | 18 |
| Washington Commanders | 7.5 | 12 | 50 | 25 | 8.7 | 25 | 4.5 | 11 |
| Houston Texans | 6.9 | 18 | 54 | 30 | 8.7 | 26 | 4.5 | 12 |
| Tennessee Titans | 6.8 | 22 | 52 | 27 | 8.9 | 28 | 4.1 | 21 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7.2 | 15 | 49 | 24 | 8.9 | 27 | 4.1 | 25 |
| New England Patriots | 6.3 | 29 | 52 | 28 | 9.0 | 29 | 4.0 | 27 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 7.9 | 6 | 45 | 20 | 9.1 | 30 | 5.3 | 2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 5.9 | 32 | 66 | 31 | 9.1 | 31 | 4.1 | 20 |
| Chicago Bears | 6.3 | 28 | 68 | 32 | 10.7 | 32 | 3.6 | 32 |
On Tuesday, Chicago acquired guard Jonah Jackson from the Rams. Jackson went to the Pro Bowl with the Lions a few years back (he's familiar to new Bears coach Ben Johnson), then signed a $51 million deal with the Rams in free agency. He started only 4 games last year, and the Rams are working through some cap issues, which probably factored into the trade. He'd also missed 4 and 5 games his last two seasons in Detroit (but started every game the previous two years). So maybe durability is a concern, but he'll be an upgrade on the field.
On Wednesday they acquired Joe Thuney from Kansas City. Thuney has been an All-Pro in each of the last two seasons, and there are no health questions there -- he's missed only two games in his nine-year career. Age is an issue (he's 32), and Kansas City also has some cap and contract issues to work out. But obviously he's playing at a high level at the moment, and should have some good years left. Kansas City gets a fourth-round pick, but the Bears get a major upgrade.
So it's a new a guard tandem, which can only help what was one of the league's worst lines last year. They've still got free agency and the draft, so it's not like they're necessarily done adding talent to the line, either.
Keep them on the field, and things will look much better for Caleb Williams.
--Andy Richardson