Chicago Bears 2025 Mock Draft: Offensive Line remains 1st-round priority

If there’s been a bright side to the Chicago Bears’ crumbling 2024 season, it’s the resurgence of Caleb Williams and the offense since Thomas Brown took over as offensive coordinator. Williams has already broken the Bears’ single-season rookie passing record, has tied the rookie record for touchdown passes, and is suddenly in the hunt to catch Erik Kramer’s team record for passing yards in a season.

The last two weeks have been especially productive for Williams and the passing game. Brown’s approach to playcalling has sped up Williams’ processing, which in turn has limited sacks and, by default, made the offensive line at least look better. Williams has been sacked six times over the last two games, compared to 15 (!!!) in the final two games of Shane Waldron’s tenure.

Caleb Williams in Weeks 1-10:
60.5% completion percentage
198.3 yards/game
9:5 TD:INT
81.0 passer rating

Williams over the past two weeks since Thomas Brown became the #Bears OC:
70.5% completion percentage
285.5 yards/game
2:0 TD:INT
99.9 passer rating pic.twitter.com/tVPJAQpQCU

— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) November 24, 2024

Still, there’s no denying the Bears need to continue adding blue-chip talent to the offensive line in order to maximize their investment in Caleb Williams. And in the latest mock draft from The 33rd Team, GM Ryan Poles spends the 12th overall pick on Texas offensive tackle on Kelvin Banks Jr.

“The Bears lost their fifth consecutive game on Sunday against the Vikings,” the 33rd Team’s Kyle Crabbs wrote. “Although the team’s protection was better, the offensive line still feels like the obvious play for getting the environment around Caleb Williams right. The interior situation has been frustrating, and the tackles are more important to a Williams-led offense because of the stress his style of play can place on the edges of the pocket. Banks Jr. has the length and athleticism to be a great combo with Darnell Wright.”

Will the Bears move on from Braxton Jones in the 2025 NFL Draft?

There’s a general sentiment that the Bears will move on from Braxton Jones this offseason and look for his replacement at left tackle in the 2025 NFL Draft. I’m not sure I’m buying that, though.

Jones isn’t an elite left tackle by any means, but he is a serviceable starter who, at times, is the Bears’ best offensive lineman. In fact, he has the second-highest Pro Football Focus grade on the Bears’ offense this season (75.4) and is the 18th-highest graded tackle in the NFL. By comparison, Joe Alt, the Los Angeles Chargers super-rookie, is only a few points higher with a 78.4 grade.

I know Jones doesn’t necessarily look the part of a blindside protector, but Chicago could do much worse than him.

The biggest question surrounding Jones’ future is his contract, which will expire at the end of next season. Perhaps the Bears will draft a tackle in the first round because they won’t want to pay Jones a premium-position salary at or near the top of the market. The average annual salary for the top left tackles in the NFL is over $25 million per season, while Jones’s current salary is less than $1 million per year.

If Jones and the rest of the Chicago Bears’ offensive line finishes the 2024 season strong, we could see a shift in the team’s NFL draft priorities. The interior offensive line positions can be addressed in the second and third rounds. Perhaps, if Poles feels good about Jones and Darnell Wright as his bookends for the foreseeable future, the Bears will pivot to an edge rusher or interior defensive lineman instead, which have quickly become positions of need during the team’s five-game losing streak.