Ozzy Trapilo turning heads early at Bears Minicamp

David Banks - USA Today Sports

Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - 7 hours ago

CHICAGO - Rookie offensive lineman Ozzy Trapilo has already impressed at minicamp. His versatility and knowledge have given him the opportunity to get some reps with the starters.

Even though the pads are not on yet, he is still able to learn a bit about the speed of the game in the NFL versus college.

“The speed of the game. You kind of understand that coming in. It’s faster, just overall, everything about it. Getting to experience that throughout these last few weeks, I think have been really beneficial,” Trapilo said. “It’s a really great opportunity (to get reps with the starters). This is the perfect time for the coaches to do it, rotate guys in. There’s no pads on or anything yet, so they’re really just doing their best to get guys looks, get a feeling for it all. So, I’m going out there every opportunity I get, trying to make the most of it and I think, again, that it’s really beneficial to be able to work next to guys that have played in this league.”

Trapilo is not the only young player in the offensive line room. Chicago has drafted multiple offensive linemen in the past few years including Braxton Jones in 2022 and Kiran Amegadjie in 2024.

During minicamp, Trapilo had the chance to work alongside and learn from Jones, Amegadjie and the rest of the offensive line and they have all helped Trapilo.

“They’re both fantastic guys, very helpful All the guys, the whole o-line, is really incredible. Coming in, you don’t know how it’s going to be. Everyone’s such a good guy,” Trapilo said. “You have a question, they’ll go out of their way to help you from top to bottom and I know that’s for the entire room as well as the tackle position. So, I’ve been really happy about that.”

The offensive line room is an interesting mixture with young players like Trapilo, Jones and Amegadjie along with veterans like Joe Thuney. Jones and Amegadjie, along with many of the other players on Chicago’s offense, have not been to the playoffs. Conversely, Thuney has been on four Super Bowl-winning teams with the Kansas City Chiefs and now brings that experience to the Bears.

There is a lot Trapilo can learn from Thuney, but one benefit has been being able to communicate with him during practice about what he can adjust and improve on.

“Communication stuff when we’re out there, especially after a rep. The benefit of practice is you can get back to the huddle and (talk) a little about it,” Trapilo said. “You don’t have to just move on to the next play right now, especially look at the tape and stuff like that. So, talking through reps with him, kind of seeing where his head’s at and just picking his brain.”

Particularly with offensive and defensive linemen, you can only learn so much about them without the pads on.

Nonetheless, Trapilo said he has mentally seen improvements in regard to learning the scheme and technique differences between what he learned in college and what head coach Ben Johnson expects.

“With any new system, there’s minor technique differences with every coach. So, just really trying to hone in on that over these last few weeks,” Trapilo said. “Naturally, you spend enough time at it, you’re going to get better at it. So, I do see improvements.”