A pair of the Bears' second-round selections from the 2025 NFL Draft will make their season debuts on Sunday against the Falcons.
Defensive lineman Shemar Turner was activated off Injured Reserve earlier this week, and head coach Ben Johnson sounded optimistic that Ozzy Trapilo should be able to play after being inactive thus far when speaking to reporters today.
You could call Trapilo a "healthy scratch" based on him being a full participant in practice over the past month (he's been listed as 'full' since the Friday heading into their Week 2 matchup against Minnesota, but that wouldn't paint an accurate picture of his situation. Trapilo made a remarkable recovery after rupturing his patellar tendon against the Packers in the wild card round.
While everyone had a full offseason of training, Trapilo returned to practice from the devastating injury midway through training camp. He was behind the 8-ball and probably out of football shape. It's safe to assume that's why they slow-played his return.
The fact that they already had two serviceable options at left tackle didn't hurt matters, either. Braxton Jones held his own over the first three games, and Theo Benedet started three games since (after Jones landed on IR with a knee injury).
With Benedet being fully healthy, where should expectations be set for Trapilo heading into his season debut?
Ozzy Trapilo will probably be on a pitch count aganst Atlanta
I know some might not love to hear this, but Trapilo probably won't start right away. They'll probably want to avoid throwing him into the fire (for both his and Caleb Williams' sake). He'll eventually take the starting job from Benedet, but it would be surprising to see them pull the trigger on that move against Atlanta.
While Benedet has easily been their worst starter up front, any other outcome would've been shocking. He's a former undrafted free agent (who played college football in Canada) with 10 career starts under his belt. Meanwhile, the Bears boast one of the league's premier o-lines featuring four veteran starters.
Benedet has been susceptible in pass protection, but has largely held his own in the running game. Last season, Trapilo had the polar opposite skill set, displaying much stronger pass-blocking chops.
The fact that Trapilo will eventually take the starting job means they're not going to throw him out there in jumbo formations, though. He'll probably get starting LT reps for a few drives, and how he holds up will determine how much playing time he will get.
Expectations should be tempered for Trapilo this season
Trapilo completely fortified the team's previously messy left tackle situation after taking over the starting left tackle job in their Week 12 matchup against the Steelers last season. He showed a lot of promise and instilled confidence that he could be the team's LT of the future.
It's important to remember that he's a relatively unproven commodity coming off a major injury, though. Sure, he looked promising, but he has eight career starts after playing on the right side in college. Trapilo is still learning the ropes at the position.
Trapilo returning to action as soon as he did was surprising in and of itself. However, expecting him to immediately return to that level of play, let alone improve upon it in year two, is probably a bit much.
Trapilo can still be an improvement on Benedet (especially in pass protection), but growing pains are still all but guaranteed.
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