Colston Loveland and Luther Burden have gotten the bulk of attention from Chicago Bears fans following the draft. That isn’t surprising. Both players are outstanding talents who can become dangerous weapons for Caleb Williams. They provide all the flash people love. However, another name is generating serious buzz behind closed doors at Halas Hall. That is Ozzy Trapilo. The 2nd round pick out of Boston College was a minor surprise. While the Bears wanted offensive line help, most expected they’d wait to address it after the first two rounds.
GM Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson couldn’t wait that long. They liked Trapilo too much to risk it. A source told SM there is a “strong” buzz inside the building around him. It went so far as to say nobody would be surprised if the rookie ends up playing significant snaps this season. He has already looked sharp in drills during rookie minicamps and receives constant praise for his intelligence. Most of his work has come at left tackle, which isn’t surprising. Darnell Wright is the established starter at right tackle. Trapilo already showed he could play there in college. The Bears want to know if he has a future on the left side.
Early indications are encouraging.
Ozzy Trapilo is in the perfect situation to make some noise.
He’s facing two primary names in competition for the left tackle job. First is Braxton Jones. He has been the starter for the past three years and played pretty well most of that time. He has flaws, but is at least reliable. The problem is that he suffered a season-ending ankle injury last season that likely has him missing the start of training camp. Kiran Amegadjie is the other one. The former 3rd round pick has plenty of talent, but didn’t play much last season and came from a lower level of competition at Yale. Ozzy Trapilo is battle-tested against first-rate competition, was developed by coaches with NFL experience, and is the son of former NFL guard Steve Trapilo. People need to start accepting the serious possibility that this young man could play and play immediately.
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