Bears' 2024 NFL Draft interest in Ivy League offensive lineman could lead to competition for Braxton Jones

The Yale standout left tackle received an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine a few weeks back and continued to impress a lot of teams during the event, including the Bears as it seems. Beyond the Top-30 visit, Amegadjie will also take part in Yale's Pro Day that will be held on April 3rd.

At the combine, Amegadjie made it perfectly clear that coming from an Ivy League school shouldn’t be seen as a deterrent to his draft stock and he believes he's more than capable to match up with some of the top pass rushers in the NFL. 

"I played a lot of good players," Amegadjie said. "Back at guard, I played Travis Jones who plays for the Ravens, that was my first year and it was a challenge. But you know, I'm excited for the jump in competition. I'm excited to block Micah Parsons, I'm excited to block Myles Garrett, I'm excited block all these guys. I think a lot of people aren't going to be surprised what I can do against these guys coming from the Ivy League. I think I'm gonna shock a lot of people."

During the 2023 season, Amegadjie did not allow a single sack and just one pressure on 128 pass blocking snaps in 4 games before suffering an injury. In 2022, he allowed zero sacks and two pressures on 301 pass blocking snaps. While the lack of repetitions seems like a concern, Amegadjie hopes to use it to his advantage.

"I have a skill set that nobody else has in this whole type of class," he explained. "The length, the athleticism, the power, the explosiveness. So, I may be raw, but that may be my best attribute. I'm somebody who's ceiling is extremely high. I think I have the highest ceiling in this entire draft class."

Amegadjie is set to enter the draft as an offensive tackle after playing 234 snaps  in 2023 and 661 snaps in 2022 at left tackle. However, in 2021, Amegadjie also lined up at left guard for a total of 693 snaps. After speaking at the combine, he shared that the interest in moving inside wasn’t explored by other teams and he expects to remain at tackle in the NFL. Amegadjie also named two first-team All-Pros as a players he looks to model his game after at the position.

"The easy one is Trent Williams... He just does everything on such a high level, he's the best left tackle in the game, and to me, he's the best left tackle ever," Amegadjie said. "A guy who has a similar mindset to me is Ronnie Stanley. He plays similar to me, short torso, long legs, long arms, and athletic. So, I like to watch a lot of his stuff. I just pick up techniques from him and see how he handles everything."

Given his lack of experience over the last two seasons it's easy to see why the Bears could be interested in drafting Amegadjie with one of their four selections in the draft.

The Bears already have an established starter at left tackle in Braxton Jones who could use some added competition at the position. Even if Jones beats out Amegadjie for the starting job, Amegadjie can take the opportunity to learn behind him while giving the Bears' offensive line another critical depth piece on the roster.

Amegadjie has a great story while looking to make a name for himself coming from the Ivy League and his raw athletic celling makes him a prime target to consider investing in to see if he can develop into something special. We'll soon see what the Bears' thoughts are after they dig more into the research over the final month.