Chicago Bears: Early Position Switch Could Mean Lack of Confidence in Jenkins

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus moved offensive linemen Teven Jenkins and Larry Borom. With the left tackle being of utmost importance, does this signal a lack of confidence in Jenkins there?

When the Chicago Bears drafted Teven Jenkins in last year’s NFL Draft, they envisioned him as a left tackle. They felt so good about him playing there that they cut longtime starting left tackle Charles Leno Jr.

They did so despite him playing most of his college career on the right side. That meant that Jenkins would have on-the-job training at the most important position that isn’t the quarterback.

Then Jenkins needed back surgery that would keep him out of action for most of the season. He came back late in the season and started at left tackle.

He struggled mightily in his first couple of games. That was to be expected, however, since he missed all of camp and most of the season.  On top of that, he was learning a new position.

Jenkins did improve as he got more snaps. However, he didn’t get the full number of snaps he should have because former head coach Matt Nagy preferred using veterans despite not being in a position to make the playoffs. Nagy was going to use veteran Jason Peters, a player not in Chicago’s future plans, Jenkins’ development be damned.

New regime, different feeling?

In the offseason, the Chicago Bears decided to try something different (again). They fired both general manager Ryan Pace and Nagy. They brought in Ryan Poles to be the general manager and Matt Eberflus to be the head coach.

Does the new regime feel the same way for Jenkins that the old one had?

It appears as if their feeling for him isn’t the same. Right off the bat during the Bears’ voluntary workouts, Eberflus switched Jenkins and right tackle Larry Borom. Borom was also a rookie in 2021. He played left tackle when Jenkins’ replacement, Jason Peters, also got injured. Of course, with the Bears’ luck the way it is, Borom sprained his ankle and had to miss a big chunk of the season.

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When he returned he played some left tackle but spent most of his time at right tackle. He had his ups and downs like most rookies do, but he was solid.

Now Eberflus wants to see more of Borom at left tackle.

The Bears had Larry Borom working at left tackle and Teven Jenkins lining up at right tackle, but Matt Eberflus said it’s a fluid evaluation: “We’re going to play with a lot of different combinations right now to see what guys to best.”

— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) April 19, 2022

Calling the Chicago Bears offensive line assignments a fluid situation is an understatement. The only players who are nearly guaranteed at their spot are Cody Whitehair at left guard and Lucas Patrick at center. Every other position is up for grabs it appears.

Coming out of college a lot of scouts had Jenkins on the right side as a tackle, or, more likely, as a guard. He has average athleticism and short arms to be an effective tackle. This is what Lance Zierlein, NFL.com’s draft expert said about him.

Jenkins has good tackle tape, but his short arms and average range in pass sets could be something to keep an eye on.

Eberflus and Poles might feel the same way. It seems they couldn’t wait to do the switch to see how it goes. We’ll get a better picture once we find out which lineman Poles selects in next week’s draft. However, it seems that the Jenkins experiment at left tackle might be a very short one.