The unsolved mysteries from Chicago Bears offseason work

1. Dayo Odeyingbo

What exactly is he? Who is he? The Bears signed the former Colts edge player who is said to be able to move inside to tackle, if needed, in some pass rush situations.

Odeyingbo briefly practiced at the outset of offseason work, presumably due to injury.

No one really saw how he might be deployed. Instead, Montez Sweat, Dominique Robinson, Jamree Kromah and a few others did the bulk of edge work. Sweat deserves great credit here for being at work throughout voluntary practices a year after he didn't participate to a great extent.

Training camp can finally show everyone what the Bears got for three years and $48 million and maybe it will become more obvious then whether they really do need more edge rush help.

2. Kyler Gordon's role

Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen left everyone wondering about what the starting slot cornerback would actually be doing.

“He's played more outside corner, so obviously that would be the comfort level," Allen said. "Some of the things that I see him do and the way that he fits in the run game tells me that he could be a fit with safety also."

Allen left it in the air whether Gordon is a safety, cornerback, slot cornerback or what, but then a soft tissue injury occurred and now no one knows before this could be explored.

Fortunately Gordon was just rounding back into shape enough to come on the field and do stretches with the rest of the team by the end of OTAs. It won't be long into camp before it's obvious what Allen has up his sleeve with Gordon, who just received a contract extension.

3. Tackle triumvirate

Ozzy Trapilo got his snaps as a replacement for injured Braxton Jones. Kiran Amegadjie did, as well. Jones is supposed to be ready at some point, though no one is saying yet if it's at the start of training camp.

There was no indication between the two tackles whether the slightly more experienced Amegadjie or rookie Trapilo receives first crack should Jones not be ready when camp starts following last season's broken ankle.

We know no one wins jobs in OTAs but noting says pecking order can't be established.

4. Zacch Pickens' whereabouts 

If anyone on the roster needed to step up besides edge rusher Dominique Robinson during offseason work it was Pickens, their third-year defensive tackle. Robinson, who frequented the game-day inactive list last year, actually did step up and impress coaches.

Pickens, meanwhile, couldn't be seen on the practice field until the end of OTAs and then only once briefly.

His time for being inactive apparently extended over from games last year to offseason work.

The Bears have added Grady Jarrett, Shemar Turner and signed Chris Williams to a restricted free agent offer sheet at the defensive tackle position since last season. They even said Odeyingbo can slide there if need be, but it would be good to see him slide onto the practice field first.

It's too crowded at the position for missing people to eventually have a role. What's in the works for Pickens, a third-round pick in 2023, is total guesswork.

5. Second round standoff

With about a month and a half until training camp, three Bears second-round picks remain unsigned. It's a mystery how and when this gets resolved because it's a league-wide standoff and not just the Bears' negotiations failing. Picks 35-64 want guaranteed contracts like 33 and 34 received. The mystery will be who blinks and when. Turner, Trapilo and Colston Loveland all could get off to late starts if this drags out.

6. Soft tissue question   

What's the deal with all of the soft tissue injuries from offseason? Loveland's is the most perplexing, because of how it occurred in rookie camp back at the beginning of May. He suffered an injury, then was at practice the next day but wasn't participating at OTAs.

It's not as if Johnson's offseason practices were particularly more strenuous physically than the ones Matt Eberflus conducted. In fact, from the sessions media saw, they looked slightly less physically challenging but with more mental work. This should be expected, though, when they're putting in new schemes.

The Bears went from Jim Arthur to Pierre Ngo as head strength and conditioning coach. Andre Tucker, the head athletic trainer, is still there.

Yet, the number of players filtering out of practices because of injuries seemed to grow by the day.

It could simply be Johnson values having everyone available to a greater extent for the start of training camp than the past regime, and prefers keeping anyone with the slightest issue on the side. Or it could be they've simply been unlucky.

It's better to be unlucky at this time of year than in training camp.

7. Pocket pals

Ben Johnson wants his offense run and says he likes this ability of Caleb Williams to leave the pocket and create. Jared Goff certainly didn't do this, but how much does Johnson really like this?

It's easy to say you appreciate Williams bailing on the play and ad-libbing during the offseason when there are no stakes. 

How much does Johnson really like seeing Williams give up in practice on a play to try and create something on his own, though? It happened quite frequently at OTAs, and if Williams does it in games without producing enough big plays then there is the potential for a real firestorm.

How these two can co-exist will be a very big mystery until it's clear.