The Truth Behind Ben Johnson’s Puzzling Last-Minute Roster Decision

Ben Johnson isn’t prone to knee-jerk reactions. He’s a thinker who always carefully works through a problem in his head. That is why the sudden revelation from Brad Biggs that the Chicago Bears were considering the surprise move of shifting All-Pro guard Joe Thuney to left tackle for the divisional round game against the Los Angeles Rams came as a shock. Everybody assumed the head coach would prefer keeping the line as similar as possible, leaning on Theo Benedet to fill in for the injured Ozzy Trapilo.

So what happened? Something must’ve spooked Johnson into this decision. The answer is a simple one. Los Angeles has one of the best pass rushes in the NFL. Benedet’s protection skills have been a problem all year. Much of this fear stems from what happened in the season finale against Detroit.

It had been widely assumed Theo Benedet, who replaced Trapilo on the final drive against the Packers, would start against the Rams. Benedet started eight games this season, seven at left tackle, including the regular-season finale at Soldier Field, a 19-16 loss to the Detroit Lions. The offense was held scoreless through three quarters of that game, and while the Lions sacked Williams only once, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson was a nonstop problem and registered eight quarterback pressures.

Hutchinson had little trouble beating Benedet on regular occasions, even with the young tackle getting frequent help. So you can start to understand Johnson’s concerns with the Bears about to go against Jared Verse, who is fifth in the NFL with 87 quarterback pressures this season.

Ben Johnson doesn’t want to have to constantly protect his left tackle.

It drastically limits what he can do offensively from a scheme perspective, and the Bears know they’ll have to score points if they want to upset the Rams. Yes, Thuney is a better guard than he is a tackle. Even so, he is a better pass protector than Benedet by a wide margin. People thought he was a liability when he was shifted to that spot last year by Kansas City. In truth, he only had two bad games. One was the Super Bowl, and the other was his first start. He gave up 17 pressures. Otherwise, he handled himself quite well under difficult conditions, allowing just seven pressures across the other five games.

Is it ideal? Of course not. The Trapilo injury hurts a lot. Still, Ben Johnson must do what he feels gives his team the best chance to win. In the context of this next game, it is finding ways to neutralize L.A.’s pass rush. Benedet would not be a solution to that problem in any capacity. That means either the Bears go back to Braxton Jones or shift their most reliable blocker outside. Johnson opted for the latter. Is it a risk? Of course. The problem is that whatever decision they make is a risk at this point.