Just as they were a season ago, the Chicago Bears are one of a handful of teams that are set to have two of the top 32 offensive tackles in 2025, according to Pro Football Focus. Left tackle Braxton Jones and right tackle Darnell Wright checked in at 25 and 26, respectively.
In 2024, they were 31st and 32nd, so the arrow is pointing up for the 26-year-old Jones and the 23-year-old Wright.
Here’s what PFF said about Braxton heading into the 2025 season.
The former fifth-round pick battled multiple injuries and missed significant time as he played a career-low 719 snaps in 2024.
However, when Jones was on the field, he played the best football of his career to date. His 80.8 PFF pass-blocking grade, which ranked 17th at the position, was a career high, and he allowed a pressure on a career-low 6.4% of pass plays.
Many fans have already pencilled in rookie Ozzy Trapilo at left tackle this season, as the Bears have been working him there along with second-year pro Kiran Amegadjie.
Head coach Ben Johnson said he can “absolutely” picture Jones starting at left tackle this season, but for now, he’s still rehabbing his ankle injury.
“I think he’s right on track,” Johnson said via ESPN. “Will that mean he’s limited in training camp? I would say probably at this point, but I think the progress is right where it needs to be right now.”
“Listen, the No. 1 thing in my opinion that tackles need to do is pass protect,” he added. “So I think he has the feet to get that done. We’re going to challenge him to maybe gain a little more weight so that he can anchor a little bit better in pass pro. But everything I’ve seen so far has shown a phenomenal athlete out there on the edge that we feel like we can work with.”
I can envision a scenario where Jones is the primary left tackle in 2025 for the Bears, but leaves as a free agent in 2026. If he can stay relatively healthy and perform at a decent level, the money he’ll be in line to make as an unrestricted free agent would be too pricey for the Bears.
On the right side, Wright appears firmly entrenched there for the Bears, and here’s what PFF said about him.
Wright logged more than 1,000 snaps for the second straight season. He also made a big leap compared to his rookie campaign and improved in every facet of the game. His 82.2 PFF run-blocking grade ranked ninth at the position, while his 79.3 PFF overall grade placed 16th.
He made a nice jump in play last year, which kind of fell under the radar, and I would not be surprised to see him push for a Pro Bowl nod in year three.