Chicago Bears sign German offensive lineman Lorenz Metz

| American Football | 05/03/2023

The Chicago Bears have signed German offensive lineman Lorenz Metz as an undrafted free agent following the 2023 NFL Draft.

The 6’9″, 330 pound Metz hails the small town of Neuötting in Bavaria, Germany.  He did not begin playing football competitively until his late teenage years, but quickly developed into an impact player as a defensive lineman.  He joined the Kirchdorf Wildcats of Bavaria, starting out in the U-19 team before progressing into the senior league.  In the 2017 season in the GFL2, the second-highest league in Germany, he played in 12 games and recorded 48 tackles, six tackles for loss, and one sack playing against grown men.

During his second season with Kirchdorf, he was spotted by Brandon Collier, founder of PPI Recruits, and after participating in a PPI camp, Metz impressed enough that he received his first athletic scholarship offer from the University of Massachusetts. More offers followed, and Metz eventually visited five universities: Central Michigan, Connecticut, Georgia Tech, and Massachusetts before deciding on Cincinnati. Upon arriving on campus in 2018, it was not long before he made the move to the offensive line during his redshirt season, 2019.  

He started 13 games on the Bearcats’ offensive line that first season, seeing time at both right and left tackle.  He struggled with penalties that year and was relegated to a backup role for most of 2020.  In 2021, Metz shifted inside to guard, and earned the starting job a couple of games into the season.  He started nine of the last 12 games in the regular season and was named to the American Athletic Conference’s first team as the Bearcats surprisingly made the College Football Playoff.  After battling with an ankle injury for much of 2022, he started the final five games for Cincinnati as the team went 9-4.

Metz is an absolutely massive player who is best utilized in plowing opposing defensive linemen out of the way in the ground game.  As someone who will be 26 years old when training camp comes around, he is an older and perhaps more physically developed rookie who will be fighting for a roster spot for an up-and-coming Bears team.

 

A current student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carter played football in high school and has been a lifelong avid football fan.