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Shaw Local is counting down the top 25 most important Bears for the 2023 season.
What makes one player more important than another? That’s subjective, of course. But for our purposes it comes down to this: Are the Bears worse off if this player can’t play? Does this player have untapped potential or past greatness to live up to? Is his story going to be one fans follow closely this season?
The best player on the team isn’t always the most important, but he certainly can be. We will release one player every day between now and the start of training camp.
No. 20 Teven Jenkins
Position: Left guard
NFL experience: Third season
Last year’s ranking: No. 13
Looking back: The Bears selected Teven Jenkins with the 39th overall pick in the 2021 draft, trading up to do so, but he missed most of his rookie season with a back injury. When the Bears hired Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus last year, every player had a clean slate. That was a good thing for some and a bad thing for others.
The previous Bears leaders saw Jenkins as the left tackle of the future. Poles and Eberflus weren’t sold. They buried him on the depth chart at right tackle. Not until Jenkins moved to right guard during training camp did he find a role on the team. Jenkins emerged as the starting right guard in a matter of days, filling a hole in the lineup.
Jenkins proved to be a talented guard, especially for someone who hadn’t played the position since early in his college career. Unfortunately, injury troubles limited him to 13 games. He missed two games because of a hip injury midway through the season, then missed time after suffering a scary neck injury late in the season.
Looking forward: Less than a year after his move from tackle to guard, Jenkins is on the move again. This time, he’s moving from right guard to left guard to make room for free agent addition Nate Davis. Davis has been primarily a right guard over the past few years, and it makes sense to keep him there. Jenkins just showed that he can handle a position switch well. He also has much more time to prepare for a switch this season, as opposed to making the move just weeks before the season last year.
The Bears offensive line should be much improved with the addition of Davis and No. 10 overall draft pick Darnell Wright. In order for that to be true, however, it hinges on smooth transitions for Jenkins to left guard and Cody Whitehair to center. If Jenkins handles the transition well and stays healthy – neither of which is guaranteed – he could put himself in the conversation for a contract extension a year from now. Injuries continue to be a concern and Jenkins spent his offseason strengthening the small muscles in his neck and back. With his rookie contract already halfway over, he needs to prove he can stay healthy for a whole season.
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