The Chicago Bears will have a lot of difficult decisions to make this offseason in regards to the future of the team's roster.
However, with eight games still to go in 2023, one Bears player can make the decision a lot easier for general manager Ryan Poles and the entire Bears front office.
Many Bears fans are pushing for the team to select an offensive tackle with one of their first two top selections in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, the play of left tackle Braxton Jones could force the front office to go a different direction if he keeps it up.
Jones missed six games for the Bears this season after starting Weeks 1-2 but since returning in Week 9, Jones has been outstanding for the team. When the Bears second-year offensive tackle was placed on the injured reserve with a neck injury, it opened the door for the team to potentially draft his replacement. Jones has slammed that door shut over the last two games.
The team's starting left tackle looked great in his first game back from injury in Week 9 against the New Orleans Saints and showed how big of an issue the Bears position has been in his absence.
Against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday Night Football in Week 10, Jones allowed just two pressures on 37 snaps and had the highest pass blocking grade on the team.
Factoring in the entire season, Jones has a 82.7 pass blocking grade (the 2nd-highest on the team and highest among the Bears offensive linemen), per PFF. That same pass block grade ranks 6th in the entire league among all offensive tackles.
Jones has only allowed one sack and eight pressures in 2023, compared to seven sacks and 40 pressures during his rookie season. He has shown incredible improvement this season compared to his rookie year in regards to his fundamentals and overall technique. If his improvement keeps continuing, it would be a bad move for the team to replace him just for the sake of drafting a top offensive lineman.
Arguably, the best two draft choices the general manager Ryan Poles has made in his tenure with Chicago have been Jones and right tackle Darnell Wright. Which makes it insane that Bears fans are actually vouching for the team to draft yet another tackle.
Poles, however, has been doing his due diligence, despite the improvements Jones has shown in his second season. The Bears general manager has attended multiple Penn State games this season, most likely getting a first-hand look at the highly sought after top offensive tackle prospect in Olu Fashanu.
It never hurts to do your due diligence, especially on a top prospect when you have multiple top picks. But it could be more beneficial to the Bears and the team's future if the front office watches how some of their current players have been playing this season before making a rash decision with top capital.
Jones will have eight more games to continue showing his improvement in hopes of proving to the Bears front office that drafting a top offensive tackle prospect would be a massive mistake.
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