Silvy: Are the Bears making another mistake at left tackle?

Are the Bears right at left?

I fear they’re wrong. Again.

The Bears have had a great offseason, but it doesn’t mean they’re not making a mistake at left tackle. To me, they’re hoping and wishing they have a solution. My friend Dan Durkin reminded me of a famous quote, “Wish in one hand, [poop] in the other one, see which fills up first.” And unfortunately, Ryan Poles has wished at other positions in the past, and it’s led to, for lack of a better term, crap production.

Poles acquired real solutions with Joe Thuney, Drew Dahlman and Jonah Jackson on the inside of the line, but it was because the Bears GM played with fire the last two years with his plug and fail mentality. Ryan Bates, Lucas Patrick, Nate Davis, Coleman Shelton, Doug Kramer and Dan Feeney were all acquired for either draft picks or in free agency and were mistakes for a rebuilding team.

Those failures led to the offense being brought down including the development of Justin Fields and Caleb Williams. We all hoped that Poles would’ve learned his lesson, but he’s now using the same process with one of the most important positions in football, and one vital to Williams’ growth.

The plan this year is to find a left tackle from four players, with none being ideal.

• Braxton Jones is the incumbent and will start training camp rehabbing from ankle surgery, which won’t help his ability to anchor while pass blocking – something he already had issues with in the past. While Jones is a hard worker, he will miss essential time to build chemistry with his new teammates.

The Bears also are hoping that Jones improves with better players around him and a new coaching staff. You can’t play musical chairs on the line again, and putting stock in an injured, average player being ready is playing with fire. Even if Jones does an adequate job, do you want to pay for that when Jones is a free agent after the 2025 season?

• Kiran Amegadjie was put in one of the toughest positions for his rookie season. He was drafted as a developmental project out of Yale but also was coming off a significant injury that forced him to miss the offseason program and training camp. How is a player supposed to develop if he’s hurt?! Later, Poles and Matt Eberflus gave Amagadjie his first start on the road in Minnesota against Brian Flores’ swarming defense. As expected, Amagadjie was overwhelmed and then benched after one start. So much for development.

• Ozzy Trapilo is a massive man with lots of experience at Boston College. The problem is, his past two seasons were spent playing right tackle. Trapilo will take all reps in OTAs and minicamp on the left side, but I’m of the belief if you want a left tackle, draft a left tackle. In the past, the Bears converted free agent Jon Tait from right to left but he was an accomplished veteran. Trapilo will have a tough enough time adjusting to the NFL and now will have to relearn left tackle.

If Jones or Amagadjie win the competition, the Bears will have used a second round pick on a back up. Another solution could be moving Darnell Wright to left tackle and make Trapilo start at his natural position. But now you’re using two players to fill the void of one position. Never ideal.

Please don’t tell me that Poles couldn’t replace four spots in one offseason – sure he could have. Plus, this has been the result of four offseasons of missing upfront and not prioritizing it, not just one offseason.

Maybe the Bears have an answer from one of the above players, but game plans shouldn’t be filled with maybes. I’ll be thrilled to be wrong once the regular season gets here, but for now I find the wishing and hoping to be another messy miss by Poles.

• Marc Silverman shares his opinions on the Bears weekly for Shaw Local. Tune in and listen to the “Waddle & Silvy” show weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. on ESPN 1000.