Former Player Calls Riley Reiff And Michael Schofield “Huge” Additions
It was a tight race for which Chicago Bears offensive position group was under more scrutiny during the spring. A large section of the media singled out the wide receivers while another targeted the offensive line. Considering how rough of a beating Justin Fields took last season, it’s fair to say the latter is a bigger concern. That is especially true when three of the five spots had no clear starter. GM Ryan Poles was in a bind. That is why he added veterans Riley Reiff and Michael Schofield right before training camp.
Ross Tucker had no qualms about leveling criticism on the Bears. The former offensive linemen did rankings for every group in the NFL a few weeks ago. In his mind, Chicago had the worst in the league by a comfortable margin. Poles either took his word for it or recognized the danger. With those two in the fold, has it changed Tucker’s opinion at all? Yes, it has. While he doesn’t think the line is good, he explained that it finally has desperately-needed stability.
Such things are critical for a young quarterback.
“I think (Reiff and Schofield) make a huge difference. I did the rankings three weeks ago and not only did I think the Bears had the worst offensive line in the league, I thought it was by a considerable amount…
…Now getting Reiff and Schofield, and before the Patrick injury, they’ve got four guys that I know are competent NFL offensive linemen. I have seen them start enough games, play enough games to realize they’re not bad and they’re not going to get Fields killed. Whitehair is a little better than that. Patrick and Schofield are serviceable starting linemen. Reiff is better than that.
So then they had one question mark and I thought out of Borom, Jenkins and Jones, there’s a pretty good chance one of those three will show they are good enough to be the other tackle.”
Riley Reiff and Michael Schofield aren’t game-changers.
They are anchors. They’re meant to stabilize the ship in rough seas. The Bears never had any real chance of upgrading the offensive line this year. Not with little spending money and no 1st round pick. So Poles took a different approach. He drafted four rookies to improve the depth and competition. Then he waited out the market until he could secure two solid vets at favorable prices. This is a one-year solution, and that is fine.
The Bears now have four starting spots that appear locked in with proven veterans. Riley Reiff will be the left tackle. Then it’s Cody Whitehair at left guard, Lucas Patrick at center, and Schofield at right guard. The lone position still uncertain is right tackle. It looks like Larry Borom is the current favorite for that spot since Teven Jenkins remains a no-show at camp. Presuming that is the starting five, Fields may make it through the season alive.