When talking about the Chicago Bears everyone wants to focus on the offensive side of the football. For a lot of reasons that makes sense, Matt Nagy is bringing a new scheme aboard which should help the development of second-year quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Chicago also added a lot of new weapons on that side of the ball in both free agency and in the NFL Draft. One name who is out to surprise them all is offensive tackle Rashaad Coward.

If you believe you are reading that wrong or are a bit confused, that's okay. Coward spent all of last season on Chicago's roster as a defensive nose tackle. When the Bears were getting into the thick of the offseason they made the decision to have him switch to the other side of the football.

"Rashaad is a guy who is in a unique position where some of our coaches, on both sides really, saw him with the ability to play offense," Nagy said back in April. "So where he was at on the depth chart on defense we said, 'you know what? Let's take a look and see what he can do on offense.' And what better time than now to get him with coach Harry [Hiestand] at the start here of Phase One into Phase 2 and OTAs and see what he can do."

Coward was initially listed as a guard and Nagy even mentioned he believed that was the best spot for him on offense. Instead, Coward got a lot of work at the right tackle position in the preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens. So much work in fact that he was one of two Bears to play every snap on offense that night. The other was fellow offensive lineman Jordan Morgan at left guard. Morgan was a fifth-round pick last year but missed his entire rookie season due to an injury. Coward was not perfect in the opener, but for someone who is a novice at the position, he more than held his own.

Coming out of high school at Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, New York as part of the Class of 2013, Coward was listed as a three-star recruit with a 0.8058 composite score by 247Sports. He was listed as the 1,673rd-best prospect in the country, 101st at the defensive tackle position and 13th from the state of New York. He received some interest from Buffalo, Connecticut, Rutgers and Syracuse but his lone offer came from Old Dominion.

He did not appear in a game as a freshman but saw action in nine contests in 2014. That season he recorded 26 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one fumble recovery and one sack. The following year he saw more action, recording 47 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in 11 games. He capped off his senior season by notching 49 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and one defensive touchdown.

Coward went undrafted and landed with the Bears not long after the draft concluded. He spent all of training camp with the organization but was later waived before the start of the year. After spending the majority of the season on Chicago's practice squad, he was promoted to the active roster in early December. In his lone appearance he played ten snaps for Chicago.

Working with Hiestand, a noted offensive line coach, has already helped Coward's transition to the offensive side of the ball. For someone who had not played the position in a game before the opener against Baltimore, Coward looked comfortable getting in and out of his stance off the snap of the ball. He is not someone who is ready to be a starter at the NFL level but if he continues to play at that level he could be in serious contention for a roster spot this season.