The battle is on at left tackle.
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles promised competition at the position in February, and he provided it in the form of 6-foot-8 Boston College tackle Ozzy Trapilo.
The Bears drafted Trapilo in the second round at No. 56. Trapilo, who agreed to a contract Thursday, spent the spring competing with second-year pro Kiran Amegadjie for reps at left tackle. Incumbent starter Braxton Jones will join the competition when he returns from an ankle injury.
Those three should provide the most intriguing position battle during training camp. Here’s what Bears fans need to know about Trapilo as rookies report Saturday.
How did he get here?
There was much predraft speculation about what the Bears would do at left tackle. On draft night, three tackles went off the board before the Bears picked at No. 10, including Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr., whom the New Orleans Saints took one spot ahead of the Bears. The Bears went with tight end Colston Loveland.
Poles and the front office elected to wait until Day 2 to select a tackle. In Trapilo, they found one with impressive size and experience playing both right and left tackle. He appeared in 44 games over the last four seasons at Boston College.
Where did he come from?
Trapilo’s father, Steve, was an All-America offensive lineman at Boston College in the 1980s. The Saints selected Steve Trapilo with a fourth-round pick in 1987, and he played in 57 games for them over six seasons. Steve died of a heart attack at age 39 in 2004, when Ozzy was a toddler.
Ozzy followed in his father’s footsteps and played at both Boston College High School and Boston College. He worked out in the high school weight room that was named after his father, who had donated much of the equipment before he died.
A four-star recruit coming out of high school, Ozzy Trapilo committed to former BC coach Steve Addazio, then held firm in his commitment after the Eagles replaced Addazio with Jeff Hafley. Trapilo was the top-rated recruit in Hafley’s first class in 2020.
Trapilo played in 10 games as a redshirt freshman in 2021, then started at left tackle in 2022 before moving to right tackle for his final two seasons. He was a team captain and first-team All-ACC performer in 2024.
Why did the Bears draft him?
The Bears revamped their offensive line significantly over the offseason. In March they added three veteran starters at the interior spots: Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman and Jonah Jackson.
Left tackle has been something of a question mark. Jones started 40 games there over the last three seasons. Amegadjie, a third-round pick a year ago, missed most of 2024 training camp last year while recovering from quadriceps surgery and saw limited action once the season started.
What happens next at left tackle is anybody’s guess. If Jones returns healthy at the start of camp, he could remain the front-runner. But Trapilo will have a chance to state his case.
Whether or not Trapilo starts as a rookie, he has a chance to be a big-time contributor for the Bears over the next several years. Jones enters the final year of his contract in 2025 and could become a free agent in March. The left tackle spot could be Trapilo’s in the future, even if he doesn’t win the job as a rookie. The fact he can play right or left tackle also gives the Bears versatility in the future.
What his coaches said
With Jones out during the spring, Trapilo and Amegadjie split reps with the starting offensive line. Coach Ben Johnson wanted to take a good look at each of his young tackles during minicamp in early June.
“So both guys are taking turns and they’re making the most of their opportunities,” Johnson said. “I think the head’s still spinning for almost everybody on offense, but certainly in the O-line room. We’ve got a lot of new things we’re throwing at them.”
Johnson was impressed with how quickly Trapilo is picking up the nuances of the NFL game.
“The cool thing to see is Ozzy, for a guy that’s a young player, he’s really polished in terms of the mental aspect of the game,” Johnson said. “We’re looking to key up some things, quicken up his steps, his identification process.”
Those will be ongoing adjustments for the rookie as camp begins.
What he said
In their short time together, Trapilo already has begun to pick Thuney’s brain. When Trapilo plays left tackle with the first-team offense, Thuney is next to him at left guard.
That’s a pretty valuable running mate — a four-time Super Bowl champion and four-time All-Pro.
“When we’re out there, especially after a rep, the benefit of practice is you can get back to the huddle and talk a little bit about it,” Trapilo said. “You don’t have to move on to the next play right now. Especially looking at the tape and stuff like that. So (it’s) talking through reps with him, kind of seeing where his head’s at and just picking his brain.”
While in high school in Boston, Trapilo watched Thuney and the New England Patriots win a pair of championships. Thuney won two more after signing with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021.
What he needs to prove during training camp
Before any talk of winning the left tackle job can begin, Trapilo needs to show he can handle the transition from right tackle. Yes, he has played left tackle previously, but it has been several years. He has to completely flip his footwork, which can be easier said than done.
Johnson said the top thing he looks for in an offensive tackle is pass protection. Excelling in the run game is a bonus, but pass blocking takes priority.
“You need to be able to block their best pass rusher one on one,” Johnson said. “To me, that’s the No. 1 job and everything we can get out of them in the run game will be gravy on top of it.”
When the pads come on, Trapilo has to show he can take on any challengers. That will include teammates such as Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo every day in practice. But it also will include some opponents. He’ll have two great chances when the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills visit Halas Hall for joint practices.