The Case for Offensive Tackle at Nine

In the second leg of this three-part series, we lay out why beefing up the offensive line is the best plan with the ninth pick.

With just a couple of days remaining before the NFL Draft is upon us, there still is plenty of debate roaring about what Ryan Poles should do with the Chicago Bears’ second pick of the first round, nine overall.

In the second leg of this three-part miniseries, we are examining offensive tackle and why addressing the beef up front would be the best plan of attack for the ninth pick.

In part one of this series, we discussed wide receiver. You can find that article here.

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Games are won and lost in the trenches.

If you look at the Chicago Bears’ roster and try to rank their position groups, it could certainly be argued that the two worst position groups on the team are the offensive and defensive lines.

That’s not how you win championships.

Upon his arrival, Ryan Poles said he was going to build the Chicago Bears from the trenches outward. While he hasn’t exactly done that, we are certainly starting to see the investment.

Poles has had six top 64 picks and he’s spent half of those picks on trench players. He also traded his second-round pick this year for Montez Sweat. His only first-round pick, to this point, has been spent on an offensive tackle. Currently, the team’s highest-paid player is Sweat.

While the investment is noticeable, it isn’t enough. When you look at the offensive line, in terms of true building blocks, you only see one out of five and that’s Darnell Wright.

Teven Jenkins is from the previous regime, has only one year left on his deal, and is injury-prone. Nate Davis is a short-term investment who might be off the team after this year. While Ryan Bates and Coleman Shelton are upgrades at the center position, it certainly isn’t anywhere near settled.

That brings us to Braxton Jones. Jones was a fantastic find for Poles in round 5 in his first draft in 2022, and while he’s played well the first two years, Poles needs to start looking at the bigger picture.

Is Jones your long-term answer at left tackle? My answer is most likely not.

Jones has two years left of control and is on a crazy affordable contract thanks to being a day-three pick. You can make the argument that he’s perfectly acceptable there, at least for the next two years, and you can worry about the position then.

Not so fast.

If Jones were to receive an extension, it would be sensible to do it in the summer of 2025, when he has one year remaining on his deal. That means Poles only has one year left with Jones before he has to start making long-term decisions with him.

While Jones is a fabulous value right now, would you still think he is if he was earning $16 to $19 million per season? That’s what a functional left tackle is going to earn on the open market by 2026.

Tackle is not a position you can traditionally address on day two or day three of the draft.

This tackle class is one of the deepest we’ve seen, but after Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton, there is a cliff at the position and the talent really dissipates quickly.

If Caleb Williams is indeed the answer at quarterback, the Bears are going to start regularly selecting in the back half of round one, when that happens, positions like tackle will start becoming more difficult to address.

The Bears have an opportunity to select a left tackle and pair him with Wright giving the Bears a dynamic tackle duo that will keep Williams safe for a decade.

If Joe Alt is available when the Bears are on the clock at nine, Poles needs to run the card in. Alt is a fabulous prospect who has scouts drooling with his giant size and skill.

Even if Alt is gone, players like Penn State’s Olu Fashanu, the smoothest pass-blocking prospect I’ve seen in some time, or Alabama’s JC Latham, a monster of a man that has the type of high ceiling that offensive line coaches are just lining up to hope to coach him to it, would be phenomenal additions to the beef up front.

Wide receiver is a popular choice, but DJ Moore and Keenan Allen are here. There is no immediate need for a receiver and there are constantly receivers drafted in the second round that turn into perennial All-Pros. If the Bears become a very good team, they’ll consistently have access to great receiving prospects, but they won’t for elite tackles.

The fans are chanting for Rome Odunze, but the smart play is to get the blue-chip tackle now because they’ll be much harder to find starting in 2025.