Year 1 of the Ben Johnson era in Chicago brought a lot more than most Bears fans had a right to expect. A division title.
A playoff win. And not just any playoff win, either - it came against the Green Bay Packers, a result that only sweetened the opening act for a coach who has made no secret of how he feels about that matchup.
Now comes the harder part. The Bears have to move forward in a division that keeps getting tougher, where every NFC North game gets squeezed into the margins and nobody is sneaking up on anybody anymore. For Chicago, the next jump is going to come down to players delivering more, whether that means bouncing back from a down year or grabbing a bigger role and handling it.
Some of those names are already obvious. Others might only emerge when circumstances force the issue. But before Week 1, there are five Bears who stand out as players who need to answer the bell this season.
Jaylon Johnson sits at the top of that list. After an injury-filled 2025 season, he’s made it clear he wants to get back to being one of the league’s top cover corners. He’s also treating this season like a contract year, even though he technically has two years left on his deal, and that extra layer of motivation is part of the equation for him now.
Austin Booker is right behind him. The Bears’ pass-rush problems are no secret, and the simplest path to easing them is finding real production from the edge spot across from Montez Sweat.
Booker gave Chicago 4.5 sacks and 29 quarterback pressures in 10 games last season, and the offseason work has reportedly left him in better shape. If he takes the expected Year 3 jump, the Bears may not feel nearly as much pressure to go hunting for outside help.
Rome Odunze is another big one. He looked headed for the kind of breakout season Chicago expected early last year before a lingering foot injury derailed things and shut him down for the final five regular-season games.
With that injury now behind him and DJ Moore gone, Odunze has to produce without the built-in excuses. He has a skill set no other Bears receiver brings, and this is the season he needs to show exactly why he was taken ninth overall in 2024.
Dillon Thieneman also enters the year with the spotlight turning his way. The Bears started their push to get faster and more athletic on defense with the rookie, who was already projected to start after going in the first round.
Coby Bryant’s long-term injury only increases the attention on Thieneman, even if Xavier Woods can likely hold things down for now. The Bears need the kind of all-around versatility he showed in college to show up right away.
And then there’s Grady Jarrett. He knows last season wasn’t good enough, and during OTAs he pointed to the knee injury that affected him and the lesson that came with being an older player.
The bigger picture is that he’s been trending down for a while, and he carried a heavier snap load than ideal for a defensive tackle over 30. Chicago has enough depth up front - Kentavius Street, Jordan van den Berg, Nevile Gallimore, James Lynch and Jayden Loving among them - to ease that burden.
If that helps Jarrett become more effective, the Bears should do it.
In Other News...
Bears Suddenly Have A Running Back Depth Question Worth Watching
The Bears got a brief scare at running back this week when both Kyle Monangai and DAndre Swift dealt with injuries, a reminder of how quickly the position can thin out behind the starters. The good news is that neither situation appears to be a long-term concern, but it was enough to put a spotlight on the depth chart and how fragile that room can look when two backs are suddenly on the injury report at once.
For now, Chicago is not in emergency mode, but it has quietly become a spot to monitor if the team needs another body behind Swift and Monangai. Around the league, there are several running backs sitting on other teams practice squads who could make sense as short-term insurance if the Bears decide they want extra protection at a position where one more setback can change the conversation quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Poles May Have Tipped The Bears' Next Draft Focus
Ryan Poles was back in college-scouting mode over the weekend, taking in Miamis game against Stanford with an eye on the 2027 NFL Draft. For a Bears front office that has made talent accumulation a central part of its build, the trip was another reminder that the work never really stops, even years before a class reaches the league.
Miami offered plenty to keep a general manager watching closely, with running back Mark Fletcher Jr., wide receiver Cooper Barkate, edge rusher Damon Wilson II, defensive tackles Ahmad Moten and Justin Scott, and linebacker Mohamed Toure all looking like names Chicago could circle for down the road. It is early, of course, and plenty will change before that draft arrives, but Poles presence on campus makes the Bears long-term interest a little easier to read. [Read more 🡒]
These Bears Will Carry The Pressure Of Chicagos 2026 Hopes
As the Bears head toward the regular season, a familiar kind of pressure is settling onto the roster: this is a team trying to turn a promising collection of talent into something that actually holds up when the games count. The attention naturally falls on the players expected to shape the offense and stabilize the line of scrimmage, with Cole Kmet, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, Colston Loveland, Darnell Wright and Joe Thuney all carrying different pieces of that burden, while Montez Sweat and Jaylon Johnson remain central to what Chicago wants to be on defense.
The bigger question is not whether the Bears have names worth watching, but whether enough of them can absorb the added responsibility created by injuries and still keep the season on track. Dillon Thieneman is part of that wider conversation too, because every layer of the roster matters when expectations are this high and the margin for error is thin. Chicago does not need every player to be a star, but it does need the right ones to be ready when the pressure starts to rise. [Read more 🡒]