NEWSLETTER
As someone who appreciates accountability, I admire Chicago Bears offensive lineman Cody Whitehair taking full responsibility for the snapping woes that have been problematic in his return to the position.
“I’ve just got to get better at snapping the ball,” Whitehair said, via 670 The Score’s Chris Emma. “I take full responsibility for that. That has got to get done. … I take a lot of pride in my work.”
Unfortunately, it appears to be too little too late for Whitehair to turn it around at center. The Bears appear to be ready to turn the page at the position. At least, that is what all signs appear to be pointing to as of right now.
For instance, Shaw Media’s Sean Hammond points out that Lucas Patrick, Dan Feeney, and Doug Kramer took snaps at center during individual drills on Wednesday. Notably absent from that list of names was Cody Whitehair. Here is video proof of non-Whitehair center snaps taking place:
Also notable is this nugget from Bill Zimmerman, who picked up on The Athletic’s Adam Jahns predicting on the Hoge and Jahns podcast that the Bears’ offensive line will look like (from left to right): Larry Borom, Cody Whitehair, Lucas Patrick, Teven Jenkins, and Darnell Wright. This would be a sizable shift for Chicago in the trenches. It would mark the return of Jenkins to the right guard spot that he thrived in last year. But more important than that might be the removal of Whitehair from the center position and the insertion of Patrick in his place.
It’s not as if Whitehair’s snapping issues are new around here. And it’s not like the misfires were happening only in games. Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus told reporters (h/t Nicholas Moreano) that the snapping miscues had been happening in practice, too. All of a sudden, it makes sense as to why Whitehair was benched during the second half of the Bears-Vikings Week 6 clash. The Bears simply had enough. Sure, Coach Eberflus said the move to put Patrick in at center was made in order to accommodate quarterback Tyson Bagent and give him someone with more center experience. But no one was buying that excuse.
For as backward as this franchise can be, even I can’t imagine that this team would sub out their starting center just because the backup was more familiar with the position.
The Cody Whitehair problem is an organizational problem
Whitehair’s snapping problems have popped up here and there in the past. With that in mind, the Bears should’ve had better contingency plans in place. But instead of signing a center in free agency or selecting one in the draft, the Bears slid Whitehair back to his old spot. For what it’s worth, the early returns on the move were great. Remember when there were encouraging updates about Whitehair going back to his old spot? Ahhh, memories. Summer drifts away so quickly sometimes that it is easy to forget. And with Whitehair’s struggles snapping being front and center, it is hard to remember that this was once a decision that was worth a roll of the dice.
Again, I appreciate Cody Whitehair’s candor. And I find it admirable that he is taking full responsibility for his mistakes. But all things considered, moving Whitehair off center feels like this move has been a long time coming. It’s just that the Bears were too slow to make an adjustment when it became apparent that it wasn’t working. And, for me, I’m reminded that this is an organizational problem.
To be clear, Whitehair’s snapping problems are his and his alone. No one can snap the ball for Whitehair. But someone above him could’ve pulled the plug on this experience earlier. That it was allowed to go on as long as it did is something that Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles should have to answer to at some point.
