Matt Eberflus had three key traits he wanted from players when he took over as head coach. They were pretty straightforward: They needed to be big (for their position), fast, and disciplined. GM Ryan Poles accommodated him as much as possible, which is how the Bears ended up with guys like Darnell Wright, Gervon Dexter, Tyrique Stevenson, and Rome Odunze, among others. Well, Eberflus is gone. That likely means the preferences are about to change under new head coach Ben Johnson.
Sure enough, that is the case. However, the changes haven’t come in ways most people expect. Johnson explained his three personal preferences for players the Bears will target in the draft to Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com. They reflect a different line of thinking compared to his predecessor’s.
“The identity of our team going forward, it’s going to be a physical, a sound and a poised group,” Johnson told ChicagoBears.com.
“We want to see a level of physicality pop off the tape when we’re watching that. The sound fundamentals, that’s something whether they’re either currently showing that or they’re showing a willingness to learn that. And then the poised part, that’s the fun part is finding out how well they perform when the lights are the brightest. So there will be certain situations we’re looking at.”
It is pretty obvious that Johnson prioritizes the mental side of the game over the physical. He doesn’t care about players’ dimensions as much as how hard they play, how smart they play, and how much they elevate their game in big moments.
Ben Johnson continues to show he understands football.
The game is often determined by those three parameters. The most physical teams tend to win a lot. The same is true of the ones who don’t make mistakes and who perform at their best in crunch time. These are all issues that plagued the Bears over the past several years. Too often, opponents were smarter, more physical, and executed better in the 4th quarter. Ben Johnson seems intent on changing that.
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There should be plenty of players in this draft who fit the criteria he wants. Chicago can start by mining names from the reigning national champion Ohio State Buckeyes. Philadelphia took a similar approach when they drafted many Georgia Bulldogs when they were winning back-to-back titles. Ohio State has several names in this class who would fill big needs for the Bears.
It will be fascinating to see what they do.
