Canadian offensive lineman Theo Benedet’s first snaps as an NFL starter came with two-time All-Pro Maxx Crosby lined up across from him.
At a sold-out Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the University of British Columbia product took the field with franchise quarterback Caleb Williams as the Chicago Bears’ starting right tackle. His matchup with Crosby was profiled by CBS play-by-play man Spero Dedes and colour analyst Adam Archuleta after the first offensive play.
“Congratulations, young buck — your prize: Maxx Crosby,” Dedes said.
“[Longtime Chicago head coach] Lovie Smith used to say, ‘Arch, some things in life are harder than others, this is one of them,'” Archuleta added. “But you’re in the NFL, a tremendous opportunity to put some good film together against one of the best that’s doing it in Crosby.”
Entering that Week 4 game, the 28-year-old Crosby had more sacks (61.5) than Benedet had regular season NFL snaps (27). The Toronto native played all 68 offensive snaps against the Raiders, starting with 28 snaps at right tackle and then head coach Ben Johnson moved him to left tackle in the second quarter, replacing Braxton Jones, where he played the last 40 snaps in a 25-24 victory.
“Keep reminding yourself that it’s just football. At the end of the day, they all lift weights, we all lift weights. It can be hard, especially for my first game, but that’s what I kept trying to remind myself and not give them more credit than they actually earn themselves in the game,” Benedet told 3DownNation about lining up against Crosby.
“It was a whirlwind game, especially on the road, that’s an additional challenge with a really good front and a really good rusher. It was about trying to take some deep breaths, stay in the moment, not let the environment get to you. It wasn’t my cleanest game for sure. There’s a lot of stuff technically that I don’t think I helped myself with, but I did enough to win and that’s what matters.”
Benedet helped hold Crosby without a sack as Chicago came back from a 14-6 deficit to improve to 2-2 through four games in the 2025 NFL season. The six-foot-seven, 304-pound blocker excitedly jumped on Johnson from behind while making his way off the field in celebration. After taking over as head coach, the 39-year-old let Benedet know he believed in his potential.
“When you get a new staff, there’s a lot of uncertainty and anxiety,” Benedet said. “‘Am I going to be cast to the side? Are they going to want to bring their own guys in?’ It’s a credit to coach Johnson that he really gave me a shot and gave me a real look because I think it ended up being a good thing. It gave me a clean slate and a clean new coaching staff to make an impression based off the player I was this year. I tried to take the best opportunity, make the most of that opportunity when I could this year and it’s been going well so far.”
Photo: Chicago Bears
“We saw a continuation of training camp, which is a player that’s going to battle his tail off,” Johnson said. “He commits to the fundamentals, he plays with low pad level, he comes off the ball, he’s willing to strike you. As a pass protector, he continues to get better every single day. [Offensive line coach Dan] Roushar and [assistant offensive line coach] Kyle DeVan, they’re on him. He’s taken a step in the right direction. I have a lot of confidence in him. If he goes out there and is called upon, he’s going to go out there and battle it out.”
It’s rare for an undrafted free agent to start at either tackle spot in the NFL and even more-so to come in with one coaching staff and earn a starting job with another, but that’s exactly what Benedet has done. He was signed by general manager Ryan Poles following the 2024 NFL Draft. Poles was the Chiefs college scouting director when Kansas City selected Laurent Duvernay-Tardif out of McGill University in the sixth round, 200th overall during the 2014 NFL Draft. He’s familiar with Canadian university football talent, which benefitted Benedet.
“It’s been about holding the belief and I’ve been lucky all along the way. Starting back last year to have a front office and coaching staff that had a specific development plan in mind for me, they didn’t just bring me in as a body, they saw a future for me and were patient with me at times, to be honest, last year as I got adjusted to the American game,” Benedet said.
“When you first get out here, not having the yard [off the ball] was a big difference. The combination of not having the yard and the speed of pro football, the speed of NFL football is so much quicker that you have to speed everything up a ton, especially in the run game. It’s so much more important to get to your spot and not let the edge rusher beat you to your spot, which was not something I really ever had to worry about in college.”
The soon-to-be 24-year-old has worked through these elements while learning new offensive schemes and how to prepare for different personnel packages in 11-man football. That’s allowed him to feel more comfortable, take a major step in year two and play faster on the field come game time.
“Right now there are times where I can win off pure athleticism or one of my strengths is recoverability, but you can’t survive off that. You have to be disciplined and more actionary in your technique. It’s about finding more consistency in my set, in my posture, landing my hands earlier. I think that can really make me a more dominant pass protector, which is what gets you paid in this league,” Benedet said.
“It’s been fun being around Theo, his personality is great,” Williams said. “Awesome human outside of football. Then when you get on the football field, always willing to learn, I think he’s grown tremendously. Kudos to him having that mindset of, ‘I’m going to keep growing, I’m not in the position I want to be in and when my opportunity comes, that’s when I’ll shine.'”
The two-time All-Canadian offensive lineman has not forgotten where he came from. Benedet spent last offseason mostly in Vancouver training with UBC head strength and conditioning coach Joe McCullum alongside former teammate and current Detroit Lions’ offensive lineman Giovanni Manu. He watches the Thunderbirds football games when he can manage outside his packed NFL schedule.
“I really value getting to have that Canadian sticker on the back of my helmet. I keep that in mind all the time that I’m representing for a lot of U Sports players and trying to show that we have a ton of talent up there,” Benedet said. “It’s really just football, a big crowd and stuff, but that all just fades into the background and you go back to what’s made you successful and got me to this point.”
