Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson have grabbed most of the spotlight around the Bears’ 5-2 start, and for good reason. Chicago is winning, and that always pushes the headline names to the front.
But the numbers underneath the surface tell a stranger, more interesting story.
Take Rome Odunze, for starters. He has 381 receiving yards, is averaging 15.9 yards per catch, and has already piled up 11 catches of at least 20 yards.
He also has 17 receiving first downs, tied with Luther Burden III for the team lead. And yet the touchdown column still sits at zero.
Odunze is moving the chains and stretching the field, but he’s still waiting for his first trip into the end zone this season.
Kalif Raymond has been the opposite kind of receiver: not flashy, just extremely reliable. He has caught 26 of 31 targets, an 83.9% catch rate, and has 244 receiving yards - the same total as Colston Loveland. Raymond isn’t meant to be the centerpiece of the passing game, but when Williams looks his way, the ball usually ends up in his hands.
On the ground, Kyle Monangai has given Johnson something to think about. The rookie has 324 rushing yards on 60 carries, good for 5.4 yards per attempt.
D’Andre Swift has 476 yards on 116 carries and seven rushing touchdowns, but he’s averaging just 4.1 yards per rush. Monangai also has 16 rushing first downs to Swift’s 22, despite nearly half the workload.
That production has come even with Monangai dealing with toe and thumb injuries, and he hasn’t played since Week 4. He’s already been ruled out against Seattle, which will make it four straight missed games.
Even with that absence, his efficiency stands out. He does have a 61-yard run helping the average, and Swift brings more to the offense than rushing alone, but Monangai’s case for more carries is getting harder to ignore.
The defense has its own set of surprises. Austin Booker, a fifth-round pick in 2024, has four sacks and two forced fumbles, tying Kyler Gordon for the team lead in sacks.
Chicago went out and acquired Jeffery Simmons to help the defensive front, but Booker was already making noise. Dayo Odeyingbo has three sacks, and Grady Jarrett is still looking for his first.
Gordon’s numbers are even stranger when you remember what position he plays. The cornerback also has four sacks and two forced fumbles, and he’s doing it on just nine tackles. Four sacks on nine total tackles is an unusual line for any player, let alone a defensive back, but it fits the way Dennis Allen is using him.
Then there’s Dillon Thieneman, who has become a major factor as a rookie safety. He leads the Bears with 47 tackles and has added 1.5 sacks and an interception.
Devin Bush is next with 38 tackles. For a first-year player, that’s a heavy load, and it says plenty about how much Chicago is leaning on him.
The Bears’ fast start is about more than the obvious names. Williams and Johnson are driving the story, but Monangai, Booker, Raymond, Odunze, Thieneman, and Gordon are all turning in statistical lines that don’t look like much else in the league.
In Other News...
Grady Jarrett Just Lost His Margin For Error In Chicago
Seven games into a 5-2 start, the Bears defense has given the team a sturdier foundation than it had a year ago, and the front has only gotten more attention with the arrival of Jeffery Simmons. For Grady Jarrett, that means the bar has moved. The veteran defensive tackle has still shown up in the middle with pressure and disruption, but his production has not matched the expectations that come with his name or his role in a line that is supposed to be driving games.
Jarrett does not need to become the headline every week, but he does need to be more than a complementary piece now that the Bears have doubled down on the interior. Simmons changes the conversation around the defensive line, and it changes the margin for everyone else on it, too. For Jarrett, the remaining weeks of the season are about proving he can make his presence felt in a way that fits the new standard in Chicago. [Read more 🡒]
Caleb Williams Faces The Bears Test That Could Change Everything
Caleb Williams has given the Bears a jolt since returning from his hamstring injury, and the timing could hardly be better. Chicago has seen its offense perk up with help from Luther Burden, Colston Loveland and Rome Odunze, while Williams has settled back in by pushing the ball downfield and keeping the ball out of harms way against Atlanta and New England.
Seattle is a different kind of test, though, and one that will tell a lot about where this Bears passing game really stands. The Seahawks have made life miserable for opposing quarterbacks all season, and Chicago now has to find out whether Williams can keep this run going against a defense that has been especially tough through the air. [Read more 🡒]