Left tackle back among Bears' NFL Draft options at No. 25 overall after Ozzy Trapilo's knee injury

INDIANAPOLIS — An already uncertain situation for the Bears at left tackle was thrown deeper into the unknown when rookie Ozzy Trapilo suffered a major knee injury in the playoffs. That vaulted an issue they hoped was resolved to the top of their offseason priorities.

It’s important enough that they could use the No. 25 overall pick to address it. There’s no way coach Ben Johnson wants a repeat of the Bears’ carousel at the position last season, when a four-way competition dragged deep into training camp and two players were benched before Trapilo stepped in.

With Trapilo expected to miss at least most of the upcoming season, the Bears’ options are to find a stopgap solution and hope Trapilo fully recovers and continues the trajectory he was on, or they can look for a more permanent answer and allow competition to sort it out over the next few years.

General manager Ryan Poles left all options open at the NFL Scouting Combine other than tinkering with the other four starting spots. Left guard Joe Thuney, who moved to left tackle for the divisional round playoff game, is staying put, as is ascending right tackle Darnell Wright.

The Bears could re-sign Braxton Jones cheaply, bet on Theo Benedet’s development or hope it all comes together for Kiran Amegadjie in his third season, but those choices are dicey.

“Is that player in the building?” offensive line coach Dan Roushar said on former lineman Terron Armstead’s podcast, The Set. “There’s guys that have traits, but not consistent enough... So that’s to be determined.”

Roushar went on to point out that premium positions like left tackle usually require teams to use premium resources and finding a good enough player there requires “draft capital, or an asset we currently don’t have.”

The options tend to be iffy at No. 25, and when the Bears waited until the second round to choose Trapilo at No. 56 overall last year, he was eighth among offensive tackles. The top four or five tackles typically are gone by the 25th pick.

The upside for the Bears is that the rest of their offensive line is excellent and experienced, with each of the other four starters going into at least his fourth season. Thuney won the Protector of the Year as the league’s top offensive lineman, center Drew Dalman made the Pro Bowl, right guard Jonah Jackson is a former Pro Bowl selection and Wright was second-team All-Pro.

“That would be amazing,” Utah tackle Caleb Lomu said of the prospect of joining a veteran unit. “I love the learning that it brings as a young player. I want to learn as much as I can and adapt to the culture of the offensive line. Having an offensive line room that already has structure would help.”

Lomu is among the possibilities that seem realistic for the Bears at No. 25 at the moment, though Poles noted that, “Sometimes there are years where there’s a run, where they’re all gone,” and sometimes, “There’s a lot of them [and] there are a couple of guys who are sitting there waiting for you.”

Georgia’s Monroe Freeling, Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor, Clemson’s Blake Miller and Lomu all are projected to be reasonably in range for the Bears. If they wait until the second round, when they hold the No. 57 overall selection, they could be looking at Arizona State’s Max Iheanachor or Northwestern’s Caleb Tiernan.

The Bears will take a good look at free agency first, and 49ers 12-time Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams is expected to be available, but they’re unlikely to have the salary-cap space to pursue a top player. If they believe there are enough quality left tackles in the draft, their best move probably is to look for one there. If that pick works out and Trapilo bounces back, there’s nothing wrong with having a surplus at such a valuable spot.