{"id":40947,"date":"2025-05-11T06:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T06:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/40947\/"},"modified":"2025-05-11T06:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T06:01:10","slug":"could-chicago-bears-rookie-start-on-offensive-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/40947\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Chicago Bears rookie start on offensive line?"},"content":{"rendered":"

For now, the checklist for Ozzy Trapilo remains pretty basic. It\u2019s early May after all, and Trapilo is only two weeks removed from NFL draft weekend and his arrival at Halas Hall as a second-round pick by the Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n

Sure, he has dreams and aspirations for his rookie season and all the years that may follow. But this week Trapilo is simply an NFL newbie, one of eight Bears draft picks<\/a> and 47 players overall participating in rookie minicamp.<\/p>\n

This is an acclimation process as much as anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy main goal is to go out there and show who I am as a player,\u201d Trapilo said Friday after his first Bears practice. \u201cJust put it out there. Then let the coaches make decisions of where, when, how I fit with whatever it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s on that checklist that Trapilo aims to demonstrate this weekend and throughout May?<\/p>\n

\u201cGeneral movement,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not hitting (yet). There\u2019s not full pads on or anything. But it\u2019s being able to do the movements \u2014 go through the first couple steps at full speed. Stuff like that. You\u2019re able to get a lot from that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen also with the meeting rooms, just show football IQ. Learning, processing and then regurgitating.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret why Trapilo will remain in focus as the Bears progress through their offseason program and on toward training camp. After a productive offseason that saw them upgrade the offense in impressive fashion \u2014 proven play caller<\/a>, sturdier interior offensive line<\/a>, several talented pass catchers<\/a> \u2014 the biggest question remaining is who will emerge as the starting left tackle.<\/p>\n

Braxton Jones, who made 40 starts there over his first three NFL seasons, is rehabilitating from the gnarly season-ending ankle injury<\/a> he suffered in a Week 16 loss to the Detroit Lions. Jones won\u2019t be cleared to participate in any on-field work this month or next. And there\u2019s no telling how much of an on-ramp he may need to get back to 100% once he gets the nod to begin auditioning for the new coaching staff.<\/p>\n

Kiran Amegadjie? The second-year pro logged only 125 snaps last season after missing the entire offseason program and training camp a year ago while recovering from quadriceps surgery. Thus his evaluation as a starting-caliber tackle is ongoing.<\/p>\n

And Darnell Wright? He has been locked in as the starting right tackle since his 2023 arrival. So while he likely will take reps on the left side in the weeks ahead \u2014 an experiment general manager Ryan Poles has said he\u2019s open-minded to<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 such a shift would require the Bears to identify a fill-in on the right side.<\/p>\n

Photos: What we saw at Chicago Bears rookie minicamp<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where Trapilo\u2019s spring and summer progress will be worth monitoring. The Bears chose<\/a> the 6-foot-8, 316-pound offensive tackle in Round 2 last month after identifying him as a tough, strong, intelligent player who made 36 starts at Boston College. Trapilo was penalty-free as a senior last season and has earned commendation from Poles as a technician whom coaches lauded for his reliability.<\/p>\n

After Friday\u2019s short practice, Bears coach Ben Johnson continued to sing Trapilo\u2019s praises.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s exactly who we thought he was going to be,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cHe\u2019s super smart. We had a meeting last night with (the players) and a meeting this morning with them, and he was able to apply those concepts to the field immediately. He\u2019s very advanced in that regard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson did note, though, that his big-picture aim to solidify the left tackle job for the regular season won\u2019t be possible for a few months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not earning jobs here this springtime,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWhat I would like to see offensively \u2014 and not just for the O-line \u2014 is we\u2019re still trying to comprehend this system. There\u2019s a lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve taught a big-picture view over these last few weeks, but we haven\u2019t even formally installed a specific play in a formation all at once yet. We\u2019ll do that once we get to (organized team activities). So there\u2019s a lot that\u2019s going on in everyone\u2019s heads right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BearsBears offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo speaks with the media after rookie minicamp at Halas Hall on Friday, May 9, 2025, in Lake Forest. (Stacey Wescott\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

For his part, Trapilo is doing his best in the early stages to show his comfort playing either tackle spot.<\/p>\n

He started 10 games in college on the left side in 2022, then shifted to the right for his final two seasons. No matter which side Trapilo played on, he constantly devoted extra time to work on his movements and technique from the other side.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout college, I knew I wanted to play in the NFL,\u201d he said. \u201cTo do so, you have to be versatile. That\u2019s the quickest way to get on the field. So after practice, even though I was a right tackle the last two years in college, I was working (on the) left, making sure that it\u2019s still smooth, that it still feels good.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially after the season, I was working even more (on the) left than the right just because I was catching up for lost time. So it felt good today.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a positive start. And in an ideal world, Trapilo would give Johnson and the Bears coaches plenty to consider once they\u2019ve accumulated enough intel and practice video to begin envisioning a plan for the regular season.<\/p>\n

As Johnson noted Friday, offensive line evaluations can\u2019t fully escalate until the pads come on during training camp. Still, Trapilo realizes each day offers an opportunity to prove something.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal here is to play football and get on the field as soon as I can,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I\u2019m going to do whatever I can to get that done. At the same time, I know I have a lot to work on as a player. I\u2019m a rookie. I\u2019m not going to show up and be the best.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is to become the best player I can be, but I know I\u2019m not going to just do it without work. It takes a lot of work and a lot of time. So my job is not to be results-driven but process-driven.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For now, the checklist for Ozzy Trapilo remains pretty basic. It\u2019s early May after all, and Trapilo is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,14636,1035,1706,692,391,2493,1472,7,6,15,681,1034],"class_list":{"0":"post-40947","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-bears","9":"tag-bears-rookie-camp","10":"tag-ben-johnson","11":"tag-braxton-jones","12":"tag-chicago","13":"tag-chicago-bears","14":"tag-chicagobears","15":"tag-darnell-wright","16":"tag-football","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-nfl-draft","19":"tag-ozzy-trapilo","20":"tag-ryan-poles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114487681938730297","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}