Recovered from a hip injury he suffered during the pre-training camp conditioning test, the former first-round pick is back at right tackle and ready to build on a strong finish last season. “I think I have all the tools,” he said. “We just have to do it, and do it every day.”
When Bears offensive line coach Juan Castillo said right tackle Germain Ifedi could make the Pro Bowl this season, Ifedi knows what people were thinking.
“Those were bold statements, which people kind of raised an eyebrow at, which is fine,” Ifedi said. “But when he told me [that], I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m with you. I don’t think that’s unattainable.’ I think we are right there. I think I have all the tools. We just have to do it and do it every day.”
Castillo’s high hopes for a former first-round draft pick whose career has been marked more by penalties and underachievement than Pro Bowl consideration epitomizes the state of the Bears’ offensive line heading into the 2021 season.
With what should be a solid interior with guards Cody Whitehair and James Daniels and center Sam Mustipher, the Bears need their tackles — probably Jason Peters and Ifedi — to be upgrades over Charles Leno and Bobby Massie. If that happens, the Bears could have their best offensive line in years. If not, it’s likely big trouble for Matt Nagy and his hopes of taking the Bears’ offense to another level this season.
Ifedi, 27, isn’t the most likely candidate to make a sudden jump to prominence, but as a former first-round draft pick (31st overall by the Seahawks) he isn’t the least likely either. Still, his career as a tackle seemed in doubt when the Seahawks let him go in free agency after three seasons as a starter. And when the Bears signed him, they put him at right guard — claiming that guard was his best position and where he had his best NFL season as a Seahawks rookie in 2016.
It didn’t quite work out that way. After right tackle Massie suffered an injury and Rashaad Coward proved ineffective as his replacement, Castillo moved Ifedi to right tackle in Week 12 against the Packers and Ifedi responded to the challenge in the Bears’ final six games. Ifedi, who had 43 penalties including 17 holding calls in his three seasons at tackle with the Seahawks, had just four penalties last season, only one holding infraction.
It convinced the Bears they might have something. They cut Leno and Massie and drafted Oklahoma State’s Teven Jenkins in the second round to replace Leno. That left Castillo counting on Ifedi to fill the void.
“I don’t want to make predictions, but I would not be surprised if this kid made the Pro Bowl next year,” Castillo said after the draft. “Why not, right? Everything is possible.”
Ifedi missed the first 26 days of training camp with hip injury he suffered during the pre-camp conditioning exam. He returned Monday, ready to live up to Castillo’s lofty hopes.
“It’s inspiring, but it speaks to the way he’s seen me work, the way he knows I work; the way I’m wired and the player I can be,” Ifedi said. “It’s cool to have the coach have confidence in you. I’m going to keep feeding that confidence and showing him that he was right to say those things.”
It wouldn’t be unheard of. Just last season, Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles made the All-Pro team after three disappointing seasons since being drafted in the first round. Like Ifedi, penalties were a major issue — 46 in his first three seasons, including 33 holding penalties. In a nightmarish game against the Bears in 2019, Bolles committed four holding penalties — a performance that seemed to solidify his “bust” status.
The Broncos declined Bolles’ fifth-year option and made him battle Elijah Wilkinson — now with the Bears — for the starting job in 2020. Bolles responded with a huge season, cutting his penalties form 17 to seven (from 12 holding calls to four). He signed a four-year, $68 million ($38 million guaranteed) contract extension.
Ifedi started in the NFL a year before Bolles but at 27 is two years younger. Who knows what it is that makes it click for struggling young NFL linemen? But whether it’s coaching, chemistry or just good luck, that’s the kind of player development the Bears need to take their offensive line to an unexpected level.
from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/3DeI5gJ
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