The Chicago Bears are 7-2 after Week 9 and sit atop the NFC North. With all context aside, you couldn’t ask for a better position entering your bye week.
While the Bears do have some injuries that will hopefully heal up by Week 11 (namely Kyle Monangai and Luther Burden), the biggest thing the Bears can do is make necessary personnel adjustments to set themselves up for a deep playoff run.
What adjustment do you want to see the Bears make out of the Bye week?
For me, I think it’s time to shuffle out Garrett Bradbury in favor of Logan Jones. While Bradbury has been mostly
solid through the first 9 weeks, he’s clearly the weak link on the OL and can lead to devastating results, as in the Bucs game. Pressure up the middle was constant during the Bears’ nail-biting win, and the communication between Thuney, Jackson, and Bradbury is appearing as shaky as ever.
These types of plays require Bradbury to take authority as the Center and ensure the OL knows their assignments. Each and every week it is clearer that he isn’t up to that task. Beyond the lack of communication, Bradbury seems to lack the lateral quickness and strength at the point of attack to win in run and pass reps.
This assembly of clips shows Bradbury frequently missing free rushers up the middle, getting beat at the point of attack, or lacking the athleticism to win downfield. It’s consistently costing the Bears by forcing Caleb to get immediate pressure in his face, or limiting the effectiveness of the run game.
It hasn’t been all bad for Bradbury, who has been a solid addition to a line that lost Drew Dalman to an early retirement. But it’s time to bring in the rookie Logan Jones in relief.
Jones, who was selected in the 2nd round of the 2026 NFL draft, is the highest drafted OL for Ryan Poles since Darnell Wright. For a team looking to compete now, the expectation for a 2nd round pick should be for them to contribute sooner rather than later. Fortunately, Jones looked really good in his limited reps earlier this season against the Atlanta Falcons:
Seeing him seal off his man downfield and also win a few pass-blocking reps is highly encouraging. However, the rep at the 22 second mark of the link shows that he is still learning and is still prone to mistakes.
I am optimistic that if the Bears make this change after Week 11, and with their battering ram in Kyle Monangai returning, that the Bears can return to their elite rushing ways.
