There have been rumors and speculation for the past year that the Chicago Bears had to make a major concession to lure Ben Johnson from Detroit to become their new head coach. It involved giving him significant personnel authority. In other words, GM Ryan Poles would not be able to sign, draft, or trade for any players the head coach didn’t want. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune finally confirmed this publicly during an interview on 670 The Score. Johnson is indeed calling the shots.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Chicago’s 2025 draft class is shaping up to be one of the best they’ve had in years. Colston Loveland looks like a star. Luther Burden far exceeded expectations. Ozzy Trapilo was morphing into a serious left tackle before his knee injury, and Kyle Monangai was one of the biggest steals in the 7th round. Johnson clearly has an eye for talent. There is one problem.
Looking ahead to the 2026 draft, all expectations are that the Bears will be focused on helping the defense. That is not Johnson’s area of expertise. Not only that, but it’s possible the head coach may push to go after a left tackle in the 1st round rather than finally get some help along the defensive line.
Ben Johnson has been obsessed with the left tackle spot.
Don’t forget the Bears had four different starters at the position over the course of the season. It started with Braxton Jones, then went to Theo Benedet, then Trapilo, and finally to Joe Thuney. It is pretty clear that Johnson was never really happy with how the position looked. Now that Trapilo is hurt, he may decide the best chance he has of finally getting it settled is to reserve Chicago’s 1st-round pick for that spot. This would not only hurt the defense’s chances of getting some much-needed help but also test unfavorable odds.
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Historically, the best left tackles in the NFL were all drafted in the top half of the 1st round. It is extremely rare that you find one in the later picks, much less outside the 1st round. The most recent example is Christian Darrisaw, who went 23rd overall in Minnesota. It will be interesting to see how fixated Ben Johnson is on this problem. He clearly feels left tackle remains a need. Will he upend the team’s primary objective just to force the issue? We will see soon enough.
