Thus far, the 2023 season has been a disaster for the Chicago Bears. Any optimism and hope surrounding the team has dissipated after their 0-3 start which has provided virtually zero things to be excited about.
All of the same issues from last season have persisted as they aren’t getting the job done in any facet of the game. Arguably the most disappointing has been the performance of Justin Fields, who hasn’t taken the next step people were hoping to see.
In fact, he has regressed in many areas. For whatever reason, the Bears’ coaching staff seems intent on turning Fields into a pocket passer, not putting his strengths to the best of use. The results have been as disastrous as one would expect.
Not only does Fields still have work to do as a passer, but the offensive line is giving him no chance to succeed. He is being pressured on more than half of his passing attempts, leading to middling results through the air despite the addition of D.J. Moore.
If the Bears have any hope of Fields and the offense turning things around this season, they have to figure things out in the trenches. Matt Holder of Bleacher Report has picked the interior of their offensive line as the team’s biggest weakness and it would be hard to argue against that.
Luckily for the Bears, there are a few players available that can help patch things up there. One of them is La’El Collins, whom Holder has suggested the team go out and add now.
“While Justin Fields has had his struggles, Chicago’s offensive line hasn’t given him enough support and that’s only going to get worse now that Braxton Jones is on injured reserve and out at least until Week 7. That leaves the Bears with Larry Borom at left tackle, a 2021 fifth-round pick who had 17 starts during his first two seasons in the NFL.
While Collins is more of a right tackle, he’s by far the best player at the position currently available, and they could move Darnell Wright over to the left if need be. Wright lined up on the blind side for Tennessee in 2021.
Plus, when Jones does come back, the former Bengal and Cowboy has experience playing guard and can help improve that area of Chicago’s offensive line, too.”
Things cannot get much worse in the trenches for the Bears, so Collins is worth taking a look at. Money isn’t an issue as they are still overflowing with salary cap space. Already 0-3 and with the worst point differential in the NFL, the time is now for Chicago to make a change or people’s jobs will be in jeopardy sooner than later.
