The Chicago Bears offensive line didn’t get a ton of splashy headlines last season. That tends to happen when your quarterback and head coach are the ones driving the narrative. But the guys up front were quietly wrecking people in the run game, and now the recognition is finally catching up.
Sports Illustrated dropped its ranking of the top 10 offensive linemen heading into the 2026 season, and two Bears made the cut. Guard Joe Thuney took the No. 1 spot overall. Tackle Darnell Wright snuck in at No. 10. That’s not nothing for a unit that got rebuilt on the fly a year ago.
Thuney is Still the Gold Standard
Thuney being at the top isn’t really a surprise. The guy has been a rock for years across multiple teams and systems. He came to Chicago in the 2025 offseason as part of a huge investment in the offensive line, and he delivered exactly what the front office paid for. The Bears averaged 144.5 rushing yards per game last season, third in the league behind only Buffalo and Baltimore. That doesn’t happen without interior guys winning their matchups consistently.
Wright took a real leap in his third season. According to Pro Football Focus, he posted the sixth-highest run-block grade among 89 qualifying tackles at 85.6. Not bad for a guy who had some shaky moments earlier in his career. SI’s Mike Kadlick noted that Wright also helped keep Caleb Williams upright — the Bears allowed just 24 sacks all season, third-fewest among teams whose quarterbacks started every game.
That number is worth repeating. A year earlier, Williams was running for his life behind a line that couldn’t hold up. The 2025 offseason spending spree fixed a lot of that.
One Big Question Mark Up Front
There’s a complication this year. Center Drew Dalman retired suddenly during the offseason, which throws a wrench into the whole operation. Johnson now has to reshuffle the interior, and losing a starting center who knew the system is never painless. The Bears will likely take a step back in some areas while the new guy gets comfortable.
But having Thuney as a stabilizing force and Wright as a building block on the edge means the floor is still pretty high. You can survive one hole if the guys around it are that good.
All eyes are on Williams now. Year Two under Johnson showed real progress after a disastrous rookie campaign. The offensive line gave him time and a run game to lean on. If the protection holds up again and the run game stays physical, Williams has everything he needs to make the jump from promising quarterback to genuine star. The pieces are there. The question is whether they can hold together without Dalman.
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