Blocking Bears: Ranking the Offensive Line Through Week 2

The Chicago Bears ' offensive line is no different than any team in the league. No individual performance stands above the cohesion of the group. Because the offensive line is not about individuals. It's about working as one. However, we need to be able to assess players on a stand-alone basis to determine where the Bears need to improve going forward.

In this article, we rank the Chicago Bears' offensive linemen based on their performances through their week 2 loss to the Houston Texans. To build out my grading system, I watched each game five times. Once for each position on the offensive line. I use a 5-tier grading system, ranking each rep as Great, Good, Fine, Poor, or Bad. Then, I used these tiers to generate the final grades and block success rates. For grading purposes, 60 is considered average. Additionally, I have included videos for each player. These include every positive and negative rep from the previous game, omitting the "Fine" reps.

1. Darnell Wright - Right Tackle

Previous Rank: 1 (no change)

Darnell Wright takes the top spot with a grade of 68.8 (slightly above average). It was a rough week for Wright against the Texans, but his grade is floated by an excellent week 1 performance. Wright looked solid throughout the first half of Sunday Night Football, putting together a handful of dominant reps. There were a few losses in the first half, but he was winning the majority of reps.

In the second half, stuff started to fall apart. He chased a stunt, was beaten with an inside spin move that resulted in a sack, and bit hard on an inside move for another sack. While there were some nice reps in the second half, they were wiped out by the negative moments.

As a run blocker, there were a few reps where he obliterated the opposition. On the whole, his run-blocking was just okay. But there are moments where you see him simply move people.

Wright's season block success rate of 81.97% ranks first on the team by a thin margin. He recorded an above-average rep on 27.9% of snaps, ranking second on the team. Meanwhile, Wright recorded negative reps on 18% of plays, the lowest rate on the team. His numbers went in the wrong direction pretty aggressively in week 2, but he remained near the top of the rankings for the Bears over the first two games.

2. Braxton Jones - Left Tackle

Previous Rank: 2 (no change)

The Bears starting left tackle, Braxton Jones, comes in second with a 61.3 blocking grade (average). Jones won more reps than he lost on Sunday night , but there were a few instances of confusion on who was picking up the looper, and instances of Jones being slow off the snap.

Additionally, Jones had a lot of reps that fell into the "Fine" category but bordered on the "Poor" category. The plays where he is getting walked back a little too deep into the pocket but is maintaining good enough position and control in front of the defender. As a run blocker, this game was one of Jones' more underwhelming performances.

Braxton's block success rate of 80.51% is second on the team. He recorded above-average reps 25.4% of the time, ranking third on the team. His negative rep rate of 19.5% ranks the third-lowest rate on the team.

3. Teven Jenkins - Left Guard

Previous Rank: 4 (+1)

Jenkins moved up one spot in the rankings despite some continued struggles in pass protection. He comes in third with a 61.3 blocking grade (average). That grade is carried by his run blocking though, with his pass blocking grade being below average.

The Bears got shades of 2023 Teven throughout week 2, but they became fewer and farther between as the game went on. Overall, it was a rough week for him, but he showed more dominant flashes than we saw in week 1. As the game went on, Teven's struggles became more apparent.

The issues were rarely physical, mostly mental or awareness-related. The entire unit seems lost at times. I can't help but believe it will get better. Hopefully sooner rather than later, because the recent level of play for everyone is not winning many games.

Teven's block success rate of 80.83% ranks third on the team. Jenkins has recorded an above-average rep on 22.5% of snaps while recording negative reps on 19.2% of plays. He is third on the team in above-average play rate and had the second-lowest rate of below-average plays. While these ranks on the team are solid, they are still nowhere near the expectation. I expect these numbers to improve drastically in a contract year.

4. Coleman Shelton - Center

Previous Rank: 5 (+1)

Coleman Shelton improves to the number four spot with a grade of 55.6 (below average). Shelton actually impressed me at times in pass protection Sunday night , but that shouldn't take away from the fact that he was pushed deep into the pocket far too often.

While he did have moments with surprisingly good technique to stop guys bigger than him, the bad outweighed the good by a fair amount. Ultimately, the losing reps overshadow the winning reps because the losses are glaring.

I am a little disappointed that he has not made a bigger difference as a puller in space to this point. I still think he can be a serviceable center for the Bears this year, but I do wonder if Braxton Jones and him are compatible on the same unit (more on that later).

Shelton's block success rate of 77.5% ranks fourth on the team. He recorded an above-average rep on 24.2% of snaps, which ranks fourth on the team. Meanwhile, he recorded a negative rep on 22.5% of snaps, the third-worst rate on the team.

5. Nate Davis - Right Guard

Previous Rank: 3 (-2)

Davis ranks fourth for the Bears, posting an overall grade of 55.6 (below average). Davis played with better urgency than I have seen from him previously, resulting in a mostly good first half in week 2. But the wheels fell off in the 2nd half with mental errors, tripping over teammates, and struggling to sustain his anchor.

It was fun to watch Davis bring the energy throughout the first half of the game. That energy became frenetic in the second half though. It was nice to see Davis bringing that juice on the field, but the Bears need more consistency going forward. His two penalties against Houston were costly, and definitely impacted his grade here.

Davis has a block success rate of 75.29%, ranking fifth on the team. He recorded above-average reps 28.2% of the time, ranking first on the team. Davis recorded negative reps on 24.7% of plays, the second-worst rate on the team. His grade is polarizing, considering the higher volume of positive and negative plays, with a lower rate of "Fine" plays. Maybe this is what Davis is at this point in his career, though. I struggle to envision him suddenly becoming more consistent.

6. Ryan Bates - Right Guard

Previous Rank: 6 (no change)

Bates ranks 6th with a grade of 45 (Bad). In week one, I saw a player who is more limited with his body mechanics and less able to reach blocks on time. He seemed very assignment-sound but limited in his ability to win those assignments.

Bates's block success rate of 74.29% ranks sixth on the team. He recorded an above-average rep on 8.6% of snaps, ranking last on the team by a wide margin. Further, he recorded negative reps on 25.7% of snaps, the highest rate on the team. You can live with a high negative play rate from a player who offers game-changing moments, but Bates is limited in his ability to provide those.

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Final Thoughts

Through week 2, the Bears' best five offensive linemen are Darnell Wright, Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins, Coleman Shelton, and Nate Davis. The biggest disappointment from week two was the continued struggles picking up stunts and Shelton's continued inability to anchor when he needed to. The entire offensive line continued to look confused and out of sorts throughout the game. That could be due to the game plan, coaching, preparedness, familiarity with each other, having a rookie calling the protection, or player ability. The most likely answer is that it is a little bit of each.

I can't help but wonder if endurance is a factor for this unit right now. In my opinion, every player played better in the first half than in the second half. They are being asked to run a lot of horizontal concepts and to cover ground on screens. Mental lapses increase and situational awareness decreases when players are gassed. Maybe that is a conditioning thing, but I think it has something to do with the plays being called. I would like to see them get more vertical in the run game, opening them up for more traditional PA looks. That could go a long way towards improved energy levels if that is an issue.

One other thought I have is that Braxton Jones and Coleman Shelton are generally fine players on paper, but the two of them have a tough time working together in pass protection. Braxton likes to run EDGE rushers over the top of the pocket with his length and athleticism, but he tends to let them a little too close to the passer and struggles to stun players quickly off the snap with his punch or absorb with his anchor.

Shelton will inevitably eat up pocket space in pass protection due to his lack of mass. He stays in front of defenders decently but requires space to work. Therefore, the combination of Jones and Shelton is squeezing the pocket from the top and the bottom in a way that makes it difficult to win reps. Add in all the traps and pulls that the Bears are tying into their pass protection, and it becomes a muddy pocket quickly.

The whole unit seems out of sync, making it hard to decipher who is responsible for what at times in pass pro. I firmly believe that the protection will improve with more reps together. I imagine the issues with picking up stunts will be cleared up soon, as that is an Achilles heel for any offense. We will find out on Sunday in Indianapolis.

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