When running back David Montgomery was asked about the impact of the revamped offensive line following the Bears’ 36-7 rout of the Texans on Sunday, the first — and only — player he mentioned was the most unheralded: center Sam Mustipher.
“Sam coming in and leading the charge, that’s big,” Montgomery said. “He came in the same year as me [2019], you’d think he has been in the league 10, 11, 12 years the way he coaches out there. He just takes charge. He’s the general on the line and they believe and buy in.”
An undrafted free agent who spent all of last season and the first five games of this season on the Bears’ practice squad, Mustipher seemed like a stop-gap when he filled in for starter Cody Whitehair — who was injured and on the reserve/COVID-19 list — against the Rams and Saints.
But the unassuming Notre Dame product has made a lasting impression in four starts — not only as a productive player, but as a leader who already has had an infectious impact on the offensive line.
“It seems to come really, really naturally for him,” Bears offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said. “One of the greatest compliments I can give Sam is that when his name is brought up in front of the group, the reaction of the team — offensive and defensive players — the cheer that came up almost took me back.
“I can’t remember what coach [Matt Nagy] mentioned him for — something in front of the team. But the reaction showed what the team thinks of him.”
Mustipher missed two games with a knee injury that he suffered in his first start against the Saints. Whitehair returned in the meantime, but Mustipher made enough of an impression that when he was healthy, the Bears found room for him — starting him at center and moving Whitehair to left guard against the Packers, Lions and Texans.
Offensive line coach Juan Castillo said Mustipher has graded out “the same” as Whitehair did at center and has earned a longer look as a long-term solution on the offensive line.
“I think Sam is a starting center in this league,” said Castillo, who remembers Mustipher from Mustipher’s high school days in Maryland — Mustipher was a starting tackle on a high school team that was quarterbacked by Castillo’s son. “I know who Sam really is from his young days. I know what kind of person Sam is and he’s the type of guy that we all want to be.”
A four-star recruit from Owings Mill, Md., Mustipher was a three-year starter at Notre Dame (2016-18), but overshadowed by more heralded offensive linemen — first-round picks Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey and tackle Alex Bars, a current Bears teammate who went undrafted in 2019 after suffering a knee injury. But at a position where unheralded players thrive in the NFL, Mustipher’s got a chance. The team is behind him.
“I’m not really concerned with [popularity],” Mustipher said. “I just want the guys to look at me as somebody who comes in every day and does his job and is consistent no matter what’s going on on or off the field — that’s really important to me. But if my teammates deem me as such, that’s awesome. Doing my job is the most important thing.”
