If you listened to people watching the beginning of the Chicago Bears training camp, the comments were mostly the same. Rookie 2nd round pick Ozzy Trapilo looked like the favorite in the left tackle competition. Braxton Jones still didn’t look 100% from his season-ending injury last year. Kiran Amegadjie suffered one of his own early in camp. Trapilo seemed calm, composed, and solid. However, everything changed after the preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins. Trapilo was suddenly removed from the competition altogether. Theo Benedet took his place, battling Jones for the job the rest of August.
Since then, the Bears haven’t provided a clear answer on what happened. All they’ve said is they felt Trapilo’s progress had slowed. Rather than let him fight it out the rest of camp, they relegated him back to right tackle, opening the door for Benedet. Finally, after almost two months, we got some details. Dan Wiederer of The Athletic spoke to offensive line coach Dan Roushar about the rookie tackle. He laid out the details of what had happened and why the team felt it was best to return him to his original position.
“Down deep, I think there was a comfort factor missing,” Roushar said. “And I think in the transition from college to the NFL, fundamentally, he had started to lose himself a little. With that, sometimes you become very reactionary rather than action-oriented — to your set spot, to throwing your hands, to striking. Those things started to dissipate.
“As it continued to go that way, we thought the best thing for him was to reset his mind, bring him back to the right side and see growth.”
Ozzy Trapilo wasn’t ready. This is hardly uncommon.
When you play most of your football career at one specific position, it becomes ingrained in your DNA. That is why when many plays are asked to uproot from all of that, it can be jarring. You slowly lose confidence in your ability because everything is unfamiliar to you. It sounds like that is what happened with Ozzy Trapilo. Rather than forge ahead, hoping he eventually gets it, the Bears opted to reverse course and keep him where he was comfortable.
It seems like the right decision. Benedet has become a quality addition to the starting lineup at left tackle, while Trapilo filled in nicely for an injured Darnell Wright in Las Vegas. Having high-quality depth is never a bad thing. Unfortunately, some Bears fans are frustrated because the team spent a 2nd round pick on Trapilo. That is supposed to be reserved for players who become starters. Wright isn’t losing his spot anytime soon, which means Trapilo will either have to give left tackle another try. Otherwise, he’s stuck on the bench.
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