While the Chicago Bears are hosting multiple prospects at Halas Hall for next month’s NFL draft, another idea has been posed to the upper officials of the Chicago Bears, largely due to Jordan Mills poor play last year. That idea is trying out all-pro guard Kyle Long at right tackle and starting up and comer Michael Ola at right guard, over Jordan Mills.
Kyle Long’s switch from right guard to right tackle has been a popular decision for many other players on different teams, including the Denver Broncos, whom is current Bears’ head coach John Fox’s former team. The Denver Broncos put former all-pro guard Louis Vasquez at right tackle and used former Denver Bronco Orlando Franklin at right guard, after seeing Franklin struggling at right tackle in the first half of the season. Having this experience under his belt, Fox knows how a simple switch can rejuvenate an offensive line.
There is no question that the Chicago Bears’ offense struggled last year, largely due to a poor offensive line that looked shored up the season before. Granted, one of the reasons why the offensive line struggled some much is because of injuries, however, another reason is because of Jordan Mills' poor play. Mills starred in the preseason his rookie year, causing the Bears to start him over J’Marcus Webb (and subsequently waiving the right tackle), but struggled therefore after. During the 2013-2014 season, Mills ranked 73rd out of 75 tackles according to ProFootballFocus.com, and allowed too much pressure off the edge, despite only allowing a sack three times that year. The following year, similar issues surfaced, which led to the benching of Mills. Mills later saw playing time last year at left guard due to an injury to Matt Slauson, and struggled again.
Michael Ola, a player the Bears picked off waivers from the Miami Dolphins, thrived last year. He started at three positions during the season and led the Bears in performance-based pay. He was consistently one of the better players on the Bears offensive line week after week, and deserved every single started that was awarded to him. The team, however, likes him better at guard than tackle, which limits his ability to be in the starting lineup due to the depth the Bears have at guard.
Enter the switch: Kyle Long playing right tackle will provide the Bears with the best starting five players they have on the line starting and would theoretically “fix” the offensive line that plagued them deeply last year. If the Bears’ make the swap, Jordan Mills would likely be used as trade bait due to his poor play and the signing of Vladimir Ducasse, who theoretically replaces him under this scenario. The Bears will not get much for Mills, but maybe they can improve on the six selections they currently have in the draft or receive a viable young quarterback back.
Perhaps, a team like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be interested in Mills’ potential and the Bears current sixth round pick (182 overall) and throw them Mike Glennon. Or, perhaps the Bears can replace the 7th round pick lost in the Brandon Marshall trade. One thing is for certain, this gives the Bears a lot of flexibility heading forward to the 2015 NFL Draft.