Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Ben Johnson
Offensive Coordinator: Declan Doyle
Defensive Coordinator: Dennis Allen
Special Teams Coordinator: Richard Hightower
2024 Summary (W-L Record: 5-12)
Last season started off with potential for the Bears. They had selected the talented Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in the draft, but he wasn’t going to a team that traditionally picks first overall. The Bears were 7-10 the year before and had a decent defense to work with. Upgrading the quarterback position and adding some weapons at receiver meant the Bears had a chance to compete right away.
Unfortunately for Chicago, promise quickly turned to disaster:
After a 4-2 start, the Bears appeared to be on their way. But poor situational football, clock management, and an offense that struggled to get off the ground derailed the season.
The offensive coordinator was fired after just 9 games. The head coach was fired just a few weeks later. And with the season that 2nd-overall-pick Jayden Daniels was having, there were whispers around the football universe that Caleb Williams was the wrong pick for Chicago.
That’s not exactly the way you want the first season to go for your franchise quarterback.
Caleb Williams' 2024 Season: Better Than You Think
There’s a perception out there that Caleb Williams had a bad rookie season. That’s likely due to the fact that we’ve seen so many outstanding 1st-year performances in recent memory, like Jayden Daniels last year and C.J. Stroud the year before.
Key Additions
WR Olamide Zaccheaus
WR Luther Burden (2nd Rd, 39th Overall)
TE Colston Loveland (1st Rd, 10th Overall)
LG Joe Thuney
C Drew Dalman
RG Jonah Jackson
T Ozzy Trapilo (2nd Rd, 56th Overall)
DT Grady Jarrett
DT Shemar Turner (2nd Rd, 62nd Overall)
EDGE Dayo Odeyingbo
LB Ruben Hyppolite (4th Rd, 132nd Overall)
Key Losses
WR Keenan Allen
TE Gerald Everett
LG Teven Jenkins
C Coleman Shelton
RG Matt Pryor
DT Byron Cowart
EDGE DeMarcus Walker
EDGE Darrell Taylor
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Did They Address Their Holes?
The biggest and most obvious hole the Bears needed to address this offseason was the offense outside of the quarterback position.
When you’ve got a young franchise QB, everything needs to be done with his development in mind. Every move, at least early in his career, should be about making sure he has whatever he needs to be successful.
That means pass protection. That means a running game. That means an assortment of weapons. It means a scheme that makes life easy. Williams really didn’t have much of that last year.
But this offseason, the Bears covered most of that by bringing in Ben Johnson as head coach. Johnson is one of the best offensive minds in football, and he brings an approach that helped transform the Lions offense from one of the worst in the NFL in 2021 to a top-5 scoring offense in all 3 seasons that he was the OC.
Here’s a look at my deep dive into Johnson’s scheme and what we’re likely to see with the Bears:
Johnson’s approach is going to help Williams. And the Bears did a great job of bringing in players to at least resemble what Johnson had in Detroit so he can run his offense without barriers.
They shored up the interior of the offensive line by adding center Drew Dalman as well as guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson.
They drafted tight end Colston Loveland with the 10th overall pick and can now pair him with Cole Kmet.
Then they took wide receiver Luther Burden in the second round, adding him to a receiving corps that already included D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze.
The Bears will be able to play with big personnel or spread it out. They’ll be versatile and balanced on offense. That and an improved run game should allow them to draw a higher frequency of coverages that are easier to throw against.
With the same approach in Detroit, for instance, the Lions were able to draw the highest frequency of cover-3 from opposing defenses last season, according to
.If you’re looking for a way to make life easier for your quarterback, get the defense into predictable coverages with 1-on-1’s on the outside. That’s what Johnson was able to do in Detroit and will likely try to do in Chicago.
Biggest Questions Entering 2025
How will Caleb Williams adjust to Ben Johnson’s system? This will be the biggest and most critical thing to watch this season.
In particular, how Williams operates on an every-down basis will be different. Johnson’s system is predicated on being under center. The Lions ranked 2nd last season in under-center frequency, and quarterback Jared Goff attempted the highest percentage of passes from under center in the NFL.
That’s not really how Williams played in college or during his rookie season, though. Last year, the Bears ranked just 18th in under-center percentage. However, Williams ranked 34th in the NFL in percentage of pass attempts from under center (among qualified QBs).
That’s a good indicator that any time the Bears were under center, they were likely running the ball. And from my film study, when they did throw it from under center, it was either a screen or play-action boot. Defenses were prepared for that predictability last season.
That won’t be the case moving forward, although it’s still unclear to what degree. Johnson will likely have to find a happy medium between his preferences and what Williams is comfortable with. The give-and-take between quarterback and play-caller will be on display in this area.
2025 Outlook
We’ve talked a lot about Caleb Williams and the Bears offense, but this defense will be an interesting one to watch. Chicago’s D has been a strong suit in recent years, and they really didn’t make many substantial changes to their personnel this offseason.
The biggest change comes in the form of defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. Prior to 2024, Allen’s Saints Defense was a top-10 scoring unit for 4 straight seasons. He always incorporates a healthy amount of disguise and a multitude of looks to keep offenses guessing.
In fact, his defense was one of the few to consistently give Tom Brady and the Buccaneers any trouble from 2020-22. In 7 games, the Saints held that offense to just 16.1 points per game. Brady completed just 60% of his passes for 6.03 yards per attempt, with a 11-9 TD-INT ratio and a 77.3 passer rating. That’s ugly. He also threw 2 pick-6’s vs. New Orleans.
If Brady had trouble with Allen’s scheme at the end of his career when he had 20 years of experience under his belt, you can bet that just about every other quarterback currently playing in the NFL will have issues as well.
That’s one reason why this side of the ball, which was already solid, has the potential for a big boost in 2025.
I expect the same thing from Caleb Williams and the Bears Offense. And that’s not just because they can’t get any worse as a unit (32nd in yards and yards per play in 2024).
The hope is that Johnson’s scheme will help calm Williams down. Instead of him running around desperately trying to make plays, he’ll have no choice but to throw the ball where it’s designed to go, because it will be open.
The potential for this offense is in Williams’ talent, however, which is far superior to Jared Goff’s. If he can balance trying to distribute the ball with using his playmaking ability only as a last resort, this Bears offense could transform overnight into one of the best in the league.
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Hmmm - Bears offense transform to one of the best in the league? Better than Browns perhaps, able to beat Packers or Lions - not this year. I don't see a team yet - lots of good parts indeed but not a team. I think the only piece I will target is Odunze (he will likely be the WR1)