Brad Biggs has been adamant that Bates will be the starting center.
Shelton played 17 games at center last year for Rams. Bates has NFL experience at guard. I’m going with Lorin Cox on this one.
Trust me, I feel the same way - but Biggs has been on the air multiple times and almost acts insulted that people think Bates might not be the starting center.
Shelton played 17 games at center last year for Rams. Bates has NFL experience at guard. I’m going with Lorin Cox on this one.
Trust me, I feel the same way - but Biggs has been on the air multiple times and almost acts insulted that people think Bates might not be the starting center.
Being stubborn doesn’t necessarily make him right. Cox attends the practices and says they have been splitting time at center playing ability about equal and Bates has experience at guard.
According to The Athletic, the (supposed) starting offensive line never lined up together one time in OTA or in minicamp.
I read that too. Nate Davis was only there briefly for a few team drills. Dude was a no-show other than that. I'm thinking Bates is going to have to play guard instead of center if Davis isn't starting material this year. That means Coleman is our Center. But I understand that it's too early to know what's really going to happen. The team really really really needs Nate Davis to be a quality starting RG this year. If he isn't, then that messes up things considerably.
Brax missed time too. I hope he's healthy. I don't know if his was health related or something else.
The frustrating thing with Nate Davis is the fact that he was a solid OL the last two seasons before coming to the Bears. The guy is capable of playing solid RG play. But he was pretty bad (his only decent game last year was at Minnesota in week-12 of the season). He had a few other games where he wasn't horrible but he sure wasn't good. And then he had 4 or 5 games where he was horrible.
According to The Athletic, the (supposed) starting offensive line never lined up together one time in OTA or in minicamp.
I read that too. Nate Davis was only there briefly for a few team drills. Dude was a no-show other than that. I'm thinking Bates is going to have to play guard instead of center if Davis isn't starting material this year. That means Coleman is our Center. But I understand that it's too early to know what's really going to happen. The team really really really needs Nate Davis to be a quality starting RG this year. If he isn't, then that messes up things considerably.
Brax missed time too. I hope he's healthy. I don't know if his was health related or something else.
The frustrating thing with Nate Davis is the fact that he was a solid OL the last two seasons before coming to the Bears. The guy is capable of playing solid RG play. But he was pretty bad (his only decent game last year was at Minnesota in week-12 of the season). He had a few other games where he wasn't horrible but he sure wasn't good. And then he had 4 or 5 games where he was horrible.
If Davis shows up for training camp, he’ll probably be the starter at RG. At least that is how Eberflus is talking. They have too much invested in him.
I read that too. Nate Davis was only there briefly for a few team drills. Dude was a no-show other than that. I'm thinking Bates is going to have to play guard instead of center if Davis isn't starting material this year. That means Coleman is our Center. But I understand that it's too early to know what's really going to happen. The team really really really needs Nate Davis to be a quality starting RG this year. If he isn't, then that messes up things considerably.
Brax missed time too. I hope he's healthy. I don't know if his was health related or something else.
The frustrating thing with Nate Davis is the fact that he was a solid OL the last two seasons before coming to the Bears. The guy is capable of playing solid RG play. But he was pretty bad (his only decent game last year was at Minnesota in week-12 of the season). He had a few other games where he wasn't horrible but he sure wasn't good. And then he had 4 or 5 games where he was horrible.
If Davis shows up for training camp, he’ll probably be the starter at RG. At least that is how Eberflus is talking. They have too much invested in him.
+1 And I'm probably worrying over nothing. I can't imagine the guy playing as bad as he did last season... he's just a better player than that. But if he does struggle again, then the Bears need to make him the backup. He hurt the team last year in some games. He was a liability. If that is the case (hope it's not, but if it is) you don't put that guy out there - not with Caleb Williams' rookie year. If that's flushing money down the toilet, so be it. Screw the money. Protect your new kid at QB1. Bates at RG would be an "okay" option.
And here's the bottom-line for the Bears. 2025 needs to be the "Year of the Linemen" and they need to focus on upgrading both the DL and the OL. I think that may be the missing piece for being a top team in the NFL. Could the team be "pretty good" this year? If the linemen are decent, then yes. Pretty decent team this year... better next year with those upgrades. But if the lines (both D & O) are not too good then the season will be more like 7 or 8 wins. If the lines are solid then I could see a 10 or more win season this year.
