Belief Is Bears May Fill Ryan Bates Void In Unexpected Way

The Chicago Bears knew that depth would be a huge part of their success on offense this year, especially up front. Sure enough, it didn’t take long for it to be tested. After only one week, they lost veteran guard Ryan Bates to Injured Reserve. He will spend the next month recovering from shoulder and elbow problems. That leaves the starting job squarely in the hands of Nate Davis, which wasn’t something people wanted given his health and consistency issues. Unfortunately, the alternatives aren’t there.

Bates was their best option, and he’s out. Bill Murray has no starting experience, and Matt Pryor has always been more of a backup. There are no alternatives. At least, that is what most people think. Former scouting director Greg Gabriel believes there could be one alternative worth noting.

Bill Murray had a strong pre-season but was not active last week. Neither was rookie Kiran Amegadjie. While Amegadjie is listed as a tackle, he could very well play guard. The question with him is if he is ready to play after missing all of the pre-season recovering from a quadricep surgery. We won’t know the answer to that until 90 minutes before kickoff.

The Bears’ third-round pick this year missed most of training camp with a quad injury. He returned to the field on August 22nd, so he’s been practicing for a solid three weeks. If his conditioning is where it needs to be, the coaching staff must decide if he’s ready for live reps.

Ryan Bates’ loss won’t be addressed right away.

Getting Amegadjie some reps would be great. The Bears have high expectations for him. He’s big, powerful, long, and a great athlete for his size. They feel all he needs is to work on his fundamentals and experience against top competition. However, throwing him into the mix on the road in a hostile Houston stadium feels like a bad idea. He isn’t ready for the noise and complex pass rush packages the Texans are likely to throw Chicago’s way on Sunday night. It would be much more advisable to wait for the next home game.

Of course, the situation would change if Davis got hurt as well. That might force the Bears into a tough decision. Do they play it safe with somebody like Pryor, who at least has some experience, or do they gamble on the upside of Amegadjie? They’ve not minded taking risks on rookies before. Ask Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright. If they think the kid is ready for work, give him a shot. The odds of him being worse than the other options with Ryan Bates out feel unlikely.