Bears and Matt Nagy have a lot on the line in 2020

With four starters returning from a disappointing offensive line in 2019 — and possibly all five — Nagy is hoping new line coach Juan Castillo will make a difference. 

By Mark Potash May 20, 2020, 9:15am CDT


Bears right tackle Bobby Massie missed six full games and parts of two others because of illness (vertigo) and injury (sprained ankle) in 2019. Massie, who turns 31 on Aug. 1, will be playing his ninth season in the NFL in 2020, his fifth with the Bears. Jeff Haynes/AP

Germain Ifedi is unlikely to single-handedly invigorate the Bears’ offensive line in 2020. It remains to be seen if he can even beat out Rashaad Coward, and perhaps Alex Bars, for the starting job at right guard.

But so far, he’s the big upgrade for an offensive line that underperformed so badly in 2019 that the Bears fired line coach Harry Hiestand — arguably the most respected position coach on Matt Nagy’s staff. In fact, of all the Bears’ most acute needs in the offseason, the offensive line received the least attention.

Barring a surprise splurge to sign three-time Pro Bowl guard Larry Warford in free agency, the Bears basically stood pat with their offensive line in the offseason. They didn’t have much of a choice (perhaps one reason why the line coach took the fall). Center Cody Whitehair and guard James Daniels — both recent second-round draft picks — still are foundation pieces that weren’t going anywhere. And the dead-cap numbers on tackles Charles Leno ($10.3 million) and Bobby Massie ($8.3 million) made replacing them prohibitive even if general manager Ryan Pace wanted to make a change.


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The right guard position, vacated when Kyle Long was put on injured reserve with a hip injury after five games, was the only spot available for an upgrade, and the Bears approached it modestly. Coward started 10 of the final 11 games in place of Long and seemed to get a foothold on the job. But the Bears signed Ifedi — a 2016 first-round pick by the Seahawks who started four seasons but was plagued by penalties and inconsistent play. Not exactly plug-and-play.