A former Clemson standout was certainly a bright spot for the Chicago Bears in their season-ending, 20-17 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Playoffs on Sunday night.

Former Clemson offensive lineman Jordan McFadden got the start for the Bears at left guard, due to Joe Thuney being moved to left tackle after a season-ending injury to Chicago’s starting left tackle.

The decision by Bears head coach Ben Johnson to start McFadden paid off, as he put on an impressive performance – despite playing just three total offensive snaps over the last two years entering the game, including only two offensive snaps during the 2025 season.

It marked McFadden’s first start as a member of the Bears, and he drew plenty of praise from analyst Cris Collinsworth during NBC’s broadcast of the game against the Rams.

“You will watch No. 74 there just continue to make blocks,” Collinsworth said of McFadden. “And so I am sure that a guy that only had three snaps in the last two years – you’re like, ‘Oh, we’re going to stay away from that, we’re not going to do that.’ But watch him play. He’s been making plays throughout the course of the night. On some of the biggest plays, he’s had key blocks. So credit to him. Really an amazing decision by Ben Johnson to get him in there, and it’s paid off.”

The Bears claimed McFadden in January 2025, shortly after he was waived by the Los Angeles Chargers, and the 6-foot-2, 306-pounder had a good preseason with the Bears as he battled for a backup job. He was waived on Aug. 26 during final roster cuts and then re-signed to the practice squad the following day, before being promoted to the active roster in early December.

McFadden, 26, was selected by the Chargers in the fifth round (156th overall pick) of the 2023 NFL Draft.

A three-year starter at tackle for Clemson, and two-time All-ACC honoree, McFadden moved to offensive guard after joining the Chargers. He appeared in 13 games across his two seasons with LA from 2023-24 and made two starts. Both of those starts came in his rookie 2023 campaign, during which he played in 12 games (logging 163 total offensive snaps) before only appearing in one game in 2024 (logging just one offensive snap).

McFadden entered the NFL after starting the final 39 of his 56 career games at Clemson, including all 14 as a fifth-year senior in 2022, when he was a first-team All-ACC selection and won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the top blocker in the conference.

–Photo courtesy of Denny Medley-Imagn Images