There were a number of moves last season that enabled the Chicago Bears to rescue themselves from a six-game losing streak to sneak into the playoffs. One of the most underrated came during their bye week. That was when the coaching staff decided to make a bold change to their offensive line. One that saw Cody Whitehair shifted from his usual center position over to left guard.
This paved the way for Sam Mustipher to take over his original spot in the middle. While people praised the former undrafted free agent for how well he handled the promotion, not enough people talked about what happened to Whitehair at left guard. It isn’t too much of an exaggeration to say he dominated. Run blocking and pass protection both improved by a significant amount during the final stretch of the season.
So much that some asked the obvious question.
Would the Bears decide to just keep him there permanently? It wasn’t an easy answer. Not with James Daniels set to return from his pectoral injury this offseason. Daniels has played most of his NFL career at left guard and was playing some really good football prior to his injury last season. Keeping Whitehair in that spot would put Daniels in somewhat of a limbo. According to Adam Jahns of The Athletic, the decision has indeed been made.
“As always, where Whitehair plays is worth watching. But if the offseason program was any indication, the Bears have finally settled on left guard for him, regardless of Daniels’ return. Whitehair’s play improved when he moved from center to left guard last season.”
It isn’t difficult to see why the Bears would go in this direction. Does it make sense to put Whitehair at center where he’ll play okay or at left guard where he’ll play really well? It does ask a lot of Daniels to make the switch over to right guard. Something that isn’t as easy as it sounds. Still, it is much more likely to benefit the offensive line in the long run than going back to Whitehair at center.
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Cody Whitehair. Glue him to the left guard position for the rest of eternity pic.twitter.com/ZPgPGMGSM1
— Barroom Network (@BarroomNetwork) December 13, 2020
5. Center Sam Mustipher is by far the biggest catalyst to this reversal of fortune.
His intelligence and calm in the middle are evident on every snap. Nothing rattles the kid.
This in turn has liberated Cody Whitehair who has dominated at left guard for weeks now. #Bears pic.twitter.com/dTUEtPomPN
— Erik Lambert (@ErikLambert1) December 21, 2020
Cody Whitehair remains the unsung hero of the Bears offense
From the very beginning, he was asked to sacrifice for the good of the team. As a rookie, the plan was originally for Whitehair to play left guard. This after transitioning from left tackle in college. However, a brutal injury to Hroniss Grasu right before the season forced the Bears to shuffle him into the center spot. A position he’d never played before. He handled it like a champ and ended up holding the job for the next three seasons.
In 2019 though, the team was hoping to finally shift him back to left guard. The idea being to put Daniels in at center where he did his best work in college. Eight games later, it became clear Daniels was struggling too much. So they switched back. The Bears never intended for Cody Whitehair to change positions so many times. This is just how the NFL can be. Unforeseen circumstances for some players to make sacrifices.
Whitehair is the ultimate team guy.
He should be more appreciated by fans than he is. Here is hoping his permanent stay at left guard allows him to continue blossoming. It has always looked like he had star potential but could never quite find the necessary rhythm. How ironic would it be if he found it playing the spot the Bears had always intended for him?
