The Bears have plenty of players they’d like to see take a step forward in 2026, but a few stand out as the ones with the clearest path to a real breakout. Different reasons, same bottom line: these are the guys who could turn opportunity into the best season of their careers.
Rome Odunze is the biggest name on the list, and the expectations are easy to understand. He was a top-ten pick who flashed real upside, but his first two seasons came with plenty of noise around him.
As a rookie, the Bears dealt with problems at playcaller and had a rookie quarterback. In his second year, Odunze got off to a fast start, then cooled off and eventually got hurt.
This year looks different. He’s in his second season in the offense, the team is running plays for him, and he enters year three in the league fully healthy.
The excuses are fading, and the need for a breakout is growing.
Devin Bush is in a similar spot in terms of opportunity, even if his path has looked very different. Once a top-ten pick, he spent time bouncing around the league before landing a three-year deal with Chicago.
He’s coming off the best season of his career, and now he gets to work under Dennis Allen, a coach who has a track record of getting the most out of linebackers. That combination makes Bush one of the more intriguing candidates to take another jump.
Kentavius Street also has a real chance to cash in on a bigger role. His career-high in sacks came in 2022 with the New Orleans Saints, when he finished with 3.5.
That was also the most he’d ever played in a season, at 518 snaps. Injuries have followed him around, but the talent has always been there when he’s healthy.
Now in year eight, he has earned a starting job after what he did in the preseason. He’ll line up next to Grady Jarrett and should help as a pass rusher.
With the snaps coming, four or more sacks is a realistic target.
Cam Lewis is another player set up for a much larger workload. He has never played more than 600 snaps in a season or started more than six games, but both of those marks are likely to change in 2026. Whether he’s used at safety or in the slot, Chicago is expected to lean on the free-agent addition heavily.
Austin Booker rounds out the group, and his case is built on both production and responsibility. As a rookie, he barely saw the field and finished with 1.5 sacks.
Injuries pushed him up the depth chart in 2025, and he responded with 4.5 sacks in 10 games. Now the Bears are counting on him to be their top speed rusher off the edge.
For Booker, the next step means more than five sacks.
In Other News...
Bears Fans Are Mourning A 1985 Champion As More Is Confirmed
The Bears lost one of the central figures from their 1985 championship team when former fullback Matt Suhey was found unresponsive in his Deerfield home and later pronounced dead. The Lake County Coroners Office said there were no suspicious circumstances, and officials indicated the death was expected to be listed as natural causes given Suheys significant medical history.
For Bears fans, Suheys place in franchise lore was already secure. He carved out a successful 10-year NFL career in Chicago and helped define the 1985 seasons run to the title, including scoring the opening touchdown in Super Bowl XX, a moment that remains part of the teams most celebrated memory. [Read more 🡒]
Bears Fans Now Have The Official Word On Matt Suheys Death
Matt Suheys death has now been officially attributed to natural causes, ending the uncertainty that followed news of the former Bears fullback being found unresponsive at his Deerfield, Illinois home. The Lake County Coroners Office said there were no suspicious circumstances, and noted his death was tied to a significant medical history, a sobering update on a player longtime Chicago fans remember from one of the franchises most celebrated eras.
Suhey spent 10 years with the Bears and carved out a reputation as a reliable, hard-nosed presence in the backfield, capped by a career highlight that still resonates at Halas Hall: the opening touchdown in Super Bowl XX. For Bears fans, the official finding brings clarity, but it also closes another chapter on a figure from that championship team whose name still carries weight in Chicagos football history. [Read more 🡒]
Bears Get Needed Week 1 Relief But One Absence Still Looms
Rome Odunze was the one notable absence when the Bears opened their Week 1 preparation for Carolina, sitting out Tuesdays practice because of a lower-body injury. It was the lone blip on an otherwise encouraging injury report, as Chicago got back to work without any fresh issues showing up on the field.
DAndre Swift and Kyle Monangai were both back in action after their recent injury scares, with Swift returning from cramps and Monangai moving on from a hyperextended knee. For a team trying to get through the first week of the season in decent shape, that kind of early stability matters, even if Odunzes status is the one situation still worth monitoring as the opener approaches. [Read more 🡒]