NEWSLETTER
The Bears offensive line most certainly needs some work this offseason, but their tackles are doing their best to make life easier on general manager Ryan Poles.
While Darnell Wright left Thursday’s game against the Lions early, he and Braxton Jones were putting together a nice game. In 85 combined pass protection snaps, the pair didn’t allow a single pressure, QB Hit, or sack. It was the second consecutive clean sheet for Darnell Wright and the third straight game in which he didn’t allow a sack.
As for Jones, it was his second consecutive grade with a PFF pass block grade in the 80s, and he also allowed zero pressures, QB hits, or sacks on Sunday. He’s put up three of his five best PFF grades of the season in his last three outings. Along with Wright, he has crept up into the top 20 among tackles, according to PFF. Looking at those grades, Darnell Wright ranks as the 18th-best tackle in the NFL this season, and Jones ranks 19th. While they might not be grading out at an elite level, the tackle tandem appears to be trending in the right direction.
Now, obviously, PFF grades aren’t the end-all-be-all, but for a position group that doesn’t have many measurable statistics, it’s a pretty decent barometer for what you have in a player. However, not only have the PFF grades been solid, but the eye test feels like it’s trending in the right direction, too. Wright got off to a tough start in 2024, but his last few games are some of the best ones he’s played in a Bears uniform. As for Jones, while I’m not sure he’ll ever be an elite tackle, I’ve believed that he’s an above-average one in the NFL that you can work with. He’s playing like that this season.
I think part of the poor play (and a very big part) was that the play calling and the offensive scheme did the tackles and the offensive lines as a whole no favors. Since Thomas Brown took over, the offensive line has looked better. The ball is getting out faster. The runs are a little more simple. Against Green Bay (Brown’s first game), Jones had his best run block grade of the season. In the last two weeks against good defenses, Jones recorded two of his three pass-block grades.
As for Wright, he’s played his all-around best football of the season over the last three weeks. As mentioned above, he’s kept the quarterback completely clean. He also looks a lot more confident. Hopefully, the injury he suffered against the Lions on Thursday isn’t overly serious, but we’ll get an update on that Wednesday.
Darnell Wright & Braxton Jones’ Long-Term Outlook
I’ll wait for the full season until I do a full breakdown of how I’d handle the offensive line this offseason and where I’d look to improve, but the more play we get like this, the more I believe the Bears have two pretty solid building blocks in their tackles. Wright most certainly isn’t going anywhere. He’s in just his second year and is the Bears’ best all-around offensive lineman. Teven Jenkins is also an interesting case but again, I’ll leave that for another time.
Jones’ contract situation is tricky. He’ll be entering the last season of his rookie deal and will be due for a big pay raise. Do the Bears want to give that to him? Would he be willing to move inside? The situation makes things cloudy, but if there’s one that works for both sides, then I think he should be back next season.
We still have five games left, and we should use the whole sample size, but the last few weeks have made me more confident in Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright than I was at certain points earlier this season.
