Borom-Whitehair-Patrick-Jenkins-Wright tomorrow L to R.

It's simple Alex and I understand Ric's beef with the way Poles has handled his resources. If we had spent 1 of those 3 2nd's we used on D or had not made that horrific trade for Claypool, we'd have a very good quality center right now. It is what it is.

If nothing else, it sure drives home the point that on the OL depth quality matters.  It matters a lot NFL-wide, because right now there are a LOT of offensive linemen hurt.  The odds of your backup OL having to play a number of games during the season is pretty high now.  So in the case of the Bears, I think the lesson learned here is that they need better starters for sure, but it should not end there as far as the roster talent upgrade.  Ryan Poles needs better depth players too.  I get it that depth players are not going to be the same level as your starters... you can't do that in a practical sense.  But as these 17 game seasons drag on, you need a high quality depth chart to keep your season afloat if you expect to be a contender for championships.  I think it is unrealistic to think a team can avoid OL injuries.  The violence of the position being played is just too great to expect otherwise.  These are not the "fat boys" of past NFL generations but rather elite athletes - 320 pound men basically in a martial arts combat role in the trenches.  The defenders are so elite now as far as speed and power... far different than 20 or 30 years ago.  Every D now has great players.  I just believe the sport has evolved to the point that the linemen are going to get injured.  It's a given.  So depth matters.  Or it should matter.

EDIT:  I was looking over some of the league's OL injured and came across this regarding the Patriots.  This was from last month but it was interesting to me:  "The Patriots kept 11 offensive linemen on their initial 53-man roster to hold additional depth on the unit. Reiff has since been placed on injured reserve, and five of the remaining 10 players are now hurt." LINK  We are reading things now about how Belichick should be replaced due to the team doing so bad.  Maybe some of the O woes are due to the OL injury toll there.  Yes, they need a better QB there too.  But the OL problem can't be helping the situation.

Borom cannot be on the team next year. Nor can Patrick or Whitehair.

Bagent got the ball out quick, and also the Bears run-game was legit effective.  Those two things help prop up a bad OL that struggles to pass-protect their QB.  Fields has struggled in this area.  Bagent didn't.