Jackson Powers-Johnson wants to be a Chicago Bear.

Well, Brad Biggs already says Bates is the starting C.

IDK if I buy that right now but I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up becoming the Week 1 starter.  If Poles can get Frazier in the 3rd, let them compete, and Bates gets the nod, I'm ok with that plan.  Doesn't rush a rookie mid-rounder into starting and you have a vet guy there as a bridge. 

Poles really, really like Bates, that's obvious.  He's tried twice to get him.  Buffalo too liked so much two yrs ago that they matched a very solid Bears offer.  That's how we ended up with Patrick, who was Poles' 2nd Plan B.  I know ppl are gonna say that Bates didn't start that many games and I get that but he was also on one of the NFL's best OLs and they had very little in terms of injuries last season.  He would have started on many teams, Bears included, last year.  Point is, its possible this guy is a solid backup who might be good enough to start too.

I know everyone's panties are in a wad cuz of Mustipher and Patrick but newsflash most NFL teams don't want to spend a ton of capital on the C position. Most starters are on modest contracts and a lot of them were former late-round picks and even UDFAs.  That's the reality.  

I wouldn't be surprised if its Bates vs mid/late draft pick in camp this year.  Don't think Poles is spending a 1st there.

There should be some middle ground here with the OL.  Most fans just want a better offensive line for the new QB.  Better than what the team has provided in recent years.  And in fairness most fans don't want to overspend draft capital on a C, but they do want to see the offensive line fixed.  Surely there is a middle ground here between spending a high 1st round pick on a center (not happening) and the other extreme of tossing another JAG in there (like Mustipher and Patrick) and calling it all good.  It hasn't been good enough in the past.  Let's fix that.  Right?  Frazier is one example of a 2nd rounder who could be a tier above what we have had here.    

Think about it.

If a 2nd round investment of your draft capital can elevate that interior OL then that is a reasonable expenditure of draft capital.  It can make the difference between no pocket, verses a "decent" pocket for the new QB to work out of - wouldn't that be a reasonable investment?  I think so.  Maybe Bates is a good starter, or quality depth for the entire IOL.  I like the acquisition.  But if he is just another Patrick/Mustipher level guy, then that's not what we should provide the new QB... not if we want to see him have "adequate" time to work.  

LOL, I get it.  And maybe he will be solid there.  I don't know.  But no more Mustiphers or Patricks.  LOL, I'd be screaming at the TV watching those guys hurt us in games.  

+1
And Alex I admit that I have no clue about how the OL is going to be this year.  I actually believed the Patrick signing was a good one at the time - but it was a horrible signing.  The guy wasn't starter-quality... and in fairness he was a backup at Green Bay before we did sign him.   Watching defenses blow through Patrick like he wasn't even there got so old.  There was no pocket for the QB to step up into.  That has to change.  If we want a "passing QB" then he needs a pocket to step up into and to work out of. 

You can't be a pocket passing QB without a pocket.

And as much as the Claypool signing hurt, I have to admit that personally Lucas Patrick frustrated me more than Claypool.  Sam Mustipher, Lucas Patrick & Whitehair's game falling off the cliff... it just has been horrible watching the effects of that on the OL.  It crippled our offense.  Hopefully when the off-season is complete, Ryan Poles will finally have a solid OL in place here.  I believe he will.  The new kid at QB deserves to have an OL.