Cody Whitehair Hints That He Preferred Moving Back to Guard

Cody Whitehair was never supposed to be a center. He was a left tackle during his productive career at Kansas State. When the Chicago Bears drafted him in the 2nd round back in 2016, the plan had been for him to slide inside to left guard. There he would play next to Hroniss Grasu who appeared to have the center position locked down.

Then fate intervened. During a routine practice at Soldier Field, a misplaced foot saw Grasu tear his ACL. With the regular season on the doorstep, the Bears had to make a difficult decision. Do they go out and try to find a solution at center on the free agent market or do they go with somebody on the roster? The coaching staff soon reached the conclusion that Whitehair, despite his inexperience, had the skill set necessary for playing the middle.

It was a good call. The rookie had a better season than anybody could've predicted and became the full-time starter moving forward. This culminated in his reaching the Pro Bowl as an alternate in 2018. The first to accomplish such a feat since Olin Kreutz. One would think he would've been upset by the Bears' decision to suddenly move him back to left guard after four years.

Turns out? They might be surprised.

Cody Whitehair sees plenty of benefits moving back to guard

Arthur Arkush made an interesting point regarding the state of NFL contracts. Guards, on average, tend to earn more money than centers. For example, six players at left guard alone make at least $10 million dollars per year as of 2019. This compared to only four centers. So the odds of getting more money might explain why Whitehair didn't raise a fuss when head coach Matt Nagy decided to move him back to that spot.

Whitehair dabbled at left guard as a rookie, but the full-time move could prove fruitful, as the NFL’s best guards have more earning power than the top centers. There’s also obvious risk as Whitehair comes off a Pro Bowl alternate campaign.

We asked him if his representatives at CAA sports were a part of the decision. After an initial pause, Whitehair opted for the diplomatic response.

“Yeah, you know … it is what it is,” he said. “I’m really excited about moving to guard and trying to help this team take the next step. Obviously it is a contract year, but I’m just taking it day by day and trying to do everything I can to help this team win.”

One other aspect about the move is it gets Whitehair out of the spotlight. Over the past two years, he'd been taking a lot of criticism for his persistent issues snapping the football. Often they would come in too low, leading to bobbled or outright botched snaps. The problem wasn't as pronounced last year, but one can imagine he's relieved that he no longer has to worry about that. He can just focus on blocking.