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Chicago Bears under pressure to resolve left tackle dilemma quickly

Originally posted on Chicago Bears on SI | By Bryan Perez | Last updated Aug 16, 2025 9:15 AM ET

The Chicago Bears spent the entire 2025 offseason focused on building around second-year quarterback Caleb Williams. General manager Ryan Poles hired the best head coaching candidate in Ben Johnson, and he rebuilt the interior of the offensive line. He even added two explosive pass-catchers with the Bears' first two selections of the 2025 NFL Draft.

But one position was ignored, despite plenty of warning signs: Left tackle.

Incumbent starter Braxton Jones suffered a season-ending ankle fracture in December. He wasn't expected back on the field until the start of training camp, and while he did recover in time to compete for his job, his first preseason exposure against the Miami Dolphins wasn't great.

Despite Jones' injury, the Bears didn't invest any offseason resources in legitimate competition at left tackle. Poles selected Ozzy Trapilo in the second round of the 2025 draft, but he was primarily a right tackle at Boston College. His transition to the left side in the NFL hasn't gone according to plan.

Trapilo is now taking reps behind Darnell Wright as the second-team right tackle.

And as fun a training camp story as Canadian standout Theo Benedet has been, the reality is the Bears have a left tackle problem if he actually emerges as the starter against a dangerous Minnesota Vikings pass rush in Week 1.

Still, the Chicago Bears are in no rush to name their starter. The competition will continue until someone proves they deserve the gig.

"We'll go as long as we need to go to find the right guy," Ben Johnson said this week. "But we'd like to see someone go ahead and make it clear to us that he is that guy, and we just haven't seen that yet as a staff. There's been too much up and down."

The Bears can't afford to have an up-and-down left tackle. Especially not after all the resources they've dumped into Williams and the offense. If the starting left tackle is this team's weakest link, Johnson's offense will crash and burn.

The Chicago Bears' left tackle situation is so unclear that Johnson left open the possibility that the Week 1 starter might not be the season-long starter.

Yeah, it's that bad.

"We'd love to go ahead and solidify that spot and move forward from there," Johnson said. "And it might be one of those things where, when we make that decision, it's not final for the season. It could be we have to reassess after a couple of weeks of the season or by the bye week we might have to reassess. It might be something that goes on. Wouldn't be ideal, but that's the thing with the league."

It sounds like the Bears will likely lean on Braxton Jones' experience to begin the year against the Vikings, and potential pivot to a long-term option from there. Jones is entering the final year of his contract, and if he isn't the obvious starting left tackle by now, you can bet on 2025 being his final season in Chicago.

This article first appeared on Chicago Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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