Bryan Witzmann getting the starting nod at right guard for the Chicago Bears on Sunday wasn’t a huuuuge deal – after all, he started 13 games for the Kansas City Chiefs just last season – but what followed was a bit of a surprise.
Witzmann started and played 100 percent of the snaps on Sunday against the Lions. The other half of the right guard platoon, Eric Kush, did not play a single offensive snap in the win against Detroit. This move comes one week after Eric Kush started Week 10 in Buffalo, but played just 54 percent of the snaps while splitting time with Witzmann. Judging by last week’s development and full-time deployment of Witzmann at right guard, you can tentatively pencil in No. 78 as the starter until further notice.
I’m not sure how to feel just yet regarding this changing of the guard. Witzmann has starting experience and an understanding of his job within Nagy’s system, and while that’s good, his presence on the line doesn’t move the needle much. It’s not as if Witzmann excels in any particular area or jumps out on the tape for any reason. It’s a small sample of 82 snaps, but the 28-year-old lineman is playing like a well enough to not go noticed for the wrong reasons. And that’s all he’ll need to be for the foreseeable future. Just hold down the fort and don’t do anything that would be move the offense in the wrong direction.
Elsewhere on the line, things look good. Charles Leno Jr. has Pro Football Focus’ fifth-highest pass-blocking grade, Bobby Massie and Cody Whitehair appear to be humming along and holding it down at their respective positions, and even though James Daniels has had some ups-and-downs since moving into a full-time starting role, his entrance into the starting lineup hasn’t been a detriment to the offense’s success. Moving forward, it would behoove this unit to gel quickly as the team heads into crunch time.
The Bears could use some stability along the offensive line as they come down the stretch. It’s a group that has performed well to this point, but will have to finish strong while starter Kyle Long is on the mend and recovering from a foot injury that landed him on injured reserve. Chicago could opt to bring Long back into the mix after his eight-week stay on IR is over and could even get him into the season finale against the Vikings if things bounce the right way. However, it will be a while before we approach that bridge, let alone cross it.