Offense

The Bears offensive conversation really has to start with Caleb Williams and what level of play he is able to reach. With all of the talk last year around Williams and what was his fault and what was the coaching/teams fault having a overall new regime but more importantly a new offensive minded HC in Ben Johnson must be refreshing not only for him but for everyone in that building. While I thought some people blew Williams rookie struggles out of proportion I think it is fair to have criticism for what he was unable and struggled to do last season. Williams showed a few major issues in his game last season including failing to consistently process the offense at a quick enough pace for them to have success on a regular basis, often defaulting to the “hero ball” quarterbacking style like he played at USC, and not trusting his OL (granted it was a struggling unit) enough which led to him dropping his eyes and taking himself out being a passer. Something positive that we did see through a small stretch of the season (Week 11 -13)though was an ability to dissect defenses and while the explosive plays were almost nonexistent in that time he became a Drew Brees type of passer, getting through his reads efficiently and throwing his WRs open rather than waiting on them to look open. That stretch of games along with some special flashes of unique talent throughout the year has to keep you hopeful for what Williams will be able to do under a more stable and competent offensive coaching staff along with what looks to be a much improved supporting cast, especially in the OL room.

Speaking of the OL room I’m not sure you could have asked for more out of this front office as far as improving this unit goes. Adding an All-Pro G that showed he can also play T at a high level last season in Joe Thuney (26’ 4th Rounder) and another solid C/G in Jonah Jackson (25’ 6th Rounder) for relatively cheap draft compensation was a great display of how to take advantage of situations that have gone wrong or simply just teams headed in a new direction across the league. Not only did you add Thuney and Jackson through the trade but you also added Drew Dalman to finally fill this C position that they’ve failed to do so since Cody Whitehair was at his best. When you group those three additions together you make up one of the better IOL groups in the league and in my opinion that’s one of if not the biggest reasons Williams struggled last season. While having these young Ts in Darnell Wright and Braxton Jones/Ozzy Trapilo (Boston College) perform well and protect the edge is also very important the IOL group will set the pocket for Williams and give him space to navigate through pressure and for a QBlike Williams that’s one of the most important aspects of his game. Now while this starting group (Jones, Thuney, Dalman, Jackson, Wright) is very solid the depth is just as impressive for this team which was far from the case last year. Adding Trapilo through the draft gives you a promising young T to not only develop but also be a solid swing T while he does so and because of the additions of Thuney, Dalman, and Jackson that allows you to have Ryan Bates move to a full time backup role along with your 6th Round pick this past draft in Luke Newman. There’s certainly a world this OL isn’t perfect with the possibilities of  Thuney starting to show his age, Jackson struggling to stay healthy, and none of the young Ts seems to solidify their place but that’s a stretch in my opinion and more likely to me this group will be one of the better lines in the league. 

This RB room is while having three solid players between D’Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson, and Kyle Monangai (Rutgers) in my opinion needs someone that can be a real game changer here. While it’s not necessary for this offense to be a quality group I think it would add so much to this team if they could lean on the run game and take a load off of Caleb Williams shoulders. While Swift is a solid player and I love his open field elusiveness he’s not someone I feel confident you can give the ball to 15 plus times a game and count on anything more than average production, Johnson is a solid overall back but doesn’t give you any pop out of the backfield, and while I like Monangai I don’t view him as anything more than a solid rotational back that will give you effort and attitude on every touch. This room is solid but I don’t think we’ll be seeing anything more average production out of any of these guys.

As for the weaponry in the WR and TE rooms you certainly have talent and depth in both rooms respectively but what really stands is unique skill sets each of these guys possess that should allow you to be multiple and attack defenses based off of their weaknesses week to week. In the TE room you added Colston Loveland (Michigan) through the draft who compliments Cole Kmet really well with Kmet being your in line Y TE and Loveland being your off the ball move TE that can and will slide out and be a big slot WR option for you. In the WR room you add Luther Burden III (Missouri) to a very talented WR room already with DJ Moore and Rome Odunze with my only question being how they all fit together on the field. While Odunze looks like your prototypical X and performed really well in that role for the Washington Huskies he seemed to lack the downfield speed to really threaten defenses in that way and overall looked like he’d project better as a slot in his rookie year. I love Odunze and think he’s fully callable of playing Xin the league but if he looks the same way next season there could be a log jam in the slot between him, Burden III, and Loveland. If they get Odunze to exceed at that X role everything else really falls into place with Moore being your Y and Burden filling in the slot (with Loveland)and manufactured touch role in the short passing game. Either way this is a very talented group and I ultimately trust Ben Johnson to get the best out of everyone here so long as they get quality play out of Caleb Williams.

Defense

As for the defense they really don’t have much of a weakness in my opinion, the only thing that stands out to me is a lack of number one pass rusher on this team and as much as I really like Montez Sweat I just don’t believe he’s that. To keep going along this front four they added Grady Jarrett and Dayo Odeyingbo through FA and Shemar Turner (Texas A&M) through the draft. I really like the two FA additions in Jarrett and Odeyingbo and while Jarrett is getting up there in age he should give them some much needed veteran leadership in that room along with still being a solid player even if he isn’t the younger version of himself still and as for Odeyingbo he’s a really solid big body edge that gives you plus run defense and a bit of pop in the pass rusher game as well, this will be a bigger role for him than he had for the Colts but I think he’ll step into it fairly seamlessly. Turner on the other hand I felt was a touch high draft value wise but ultimately his biggest flaws come from lack of development and with someone like Grady Jarrett here along with Dennis Allen at DC and Jeremy Garrett at DL Coach it will be interesting to see how much they can get out of him. Overall this group is solid and has some interesting/quality depth with guys like Austin Booker, Andrew Billings, and Zacch Pickens but unless you’re counting on Odeyingbo, Gervon Dexter Sr, or Montez Sweat turning into true number one guys I just don’t see much of an upside as far as pas rush goes.

This LB room even after losing Jack Sanborn to the Cowboys this offseason is still one of the better pairings in the league with Tremaine Edmunds and TJ Edwards still being here but the depth is certainly more questionable. I still don’t have a good explanation for why they took Ruben Hyppolite II in the 4th round other than him running a 4.42 at 5’11 236 but I hadn’t even watched him and everyone that had has him ranked as a UDFA so that’s far from a excuse in my opinion.

This secondary on the other hand looks to be on of the better groups in the league in my opinion. I understand Kevin Byard III is getting up there in age, Jaquan Brisker has a real concern with concussions moving forward, and opposite of Jaylon Johnson they have a question mark at outside CB at this point but when this group is on the field they fly around and are lockdown in coverage, especially when we talk about Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon. Gordon and Johnson are two of the better players at their respective spots and while there are some concerns Tyrique Stevenson I think a new regime with Al Harris as your DBs Coach could have a better chance at putting together all of that talent and keeping his head on straight. They also added Zah Frazier (UTSA) through the draft and while I wouldn’t expect him to start over anyone this year he has some real talent and with some proper coaching could be a piece down the road for them. 

Overview

• Overall this Bears team finally seems to be on the right track with what looks to be a good HC hire in Ben Johnson and a promising young talented QB in Caleb Williams. There’s still a number of question marks as this new regime settles in (including Johnson and Williams)and it’s far from a sure thing that this regime and core group of players works out considering it’s year one for a number of these guys but it’s headed in the right direction on paper for the first time in a while. Between how Ben Johnson put together his first staff as ahead a HC, the great additions they made to this OL room and roster in general, and the lack of dysfunction throughout the offseason so far the Bears seem to be building not only a roster but a organization as whole that is more competent and capable of building a winner than ever before. As for this season specifically I think they have a lot of talent and finally have a coaching staff capable of using it properly but I don’t know that I’d be willing to bet on them having everything ready to go right out of the gate. I think this Bears team will be very chippy and you’ll have to respect them game in game out but I think they’re still one offseason away from really having this roster filled out and ready to push into the playoffs. They could scratch by as a wild card team this season in my opinion but the idea they’re ready to go compete for a deep playoff run like some people are saying seems to be a little high on their floor for me.