One of the oddest episodes of the 2019 season came to an end for the Chicago Bears on Sunday. This marked the moment where the team decided to move veteran blocker Cody Whitehair back to center, replacing the embattled James Daniels who returned to left guard after just eight games. While some questioned the choice since half a season wasn't long enough for a young offensive lineman to master center, the Bears needed "solutions" as Matt Nagy put it.
Considering the line performed much better in 2018 when Whitehair was snapping the ball, it was clearly felt such a change might spark something on offense. It worked. Well, sort of. Whitehair delivered some of his vintage bad snaps during the game and the offensive line allowed five sacks. However, most of those were due to Mitch Trubisky holding the ball too long. In truth, the protection was actually pretty good. Also, the Bears only had one pre-snap penalty, which is noteworthy.
Though Nagy seemed to insist the decision was a collaboration between himself and offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, it seems like they got an extra nudge from another source.
Trubisky himself.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune caught wind of it after the game.
Whitehair said he was on board with the move when offensive line coach Harry Hiestand informed players Wednesday.
“James was the same way,” Whitehair said. “I felt like it was a pretty smooth transition.”
Quarterback Mitch Trubisky was in agreement after the game as well.
“Yeah, it was good,” Trubisky said. “Cody does a great job having him back there. He’s a really big leader for this offense and this offensive line. He’s really good with communicating, helping those young guys to the sides of him now, and we have really good chemistry, me and him. So he gives me confidence and we’ve just got to keep feeding off that, and when he’s in the middle just his communication and how he leads the guys, I think it really helps the offense and guys feed off that.”
Trubisky sounded like he wanted Cody Whitehair at center
There's no getting around it. Trubisky seemed like a guy who'd been reunited with his long-lost brother. It's no secret the two are best friends on the team. So that chemistry made such a transition natural. There's also the fact that Whitehair is smart when it comes to calling out protections and adjustments at the line of scrimmage. Something that hasn't necessarily been Trubisky's strength throughout his career to this point. So it might make sense that when the opportunity came up to voice his opinion on the idea of a switch, he supported it.
Can't say it didn't yield some early results. Trubisky threw three touchdowns against the Lions and delivered some of his best throws of the entire season. It wasn't perfect, but it was a hopeful sign that having that sense of security with Whitehair in the middle helped the QB to play a little more relaxed.
