Something changed last year with the Chicago Bears. Most believed it was simply the arrival of head coach Ben Johnson on his staff, breathing some much-needed urgency into a deflated building. That was partly true. There is no question that the laser-focused coach set the tone from the moment he walked through the doors. However, another shift wasn’t noticed until a few months later. It took place during the NFL draft. Chicago, much to the surprise of onlookers, took players at positions that weren’t deemed glaring needs. A tight end? A wide receiver? It didn’t make sense, but it was all part of the plan. Dennis Allen just confirmed it.
When he arrived alongside Johnson last year, there was a consensus among everybody in the building that the scouting process had to change. For too long, the Bears were focused on how physically gifted players were and whether they filled a key roster need. Allen revealed in his recent presser that such an approach was no viable. Moving forward, there would be less of a focus on player measurables and more on on-field performance. Tape and football character will drive the draft process.
“We’re looking for smart players, we’re looking for tough players, we’re looking for highly competitive players,” Allen said. “There was a decrease in ‘what’s the 40 time, what’s the height, what’s the weight, what’s the athletic movement skills?’ And it was, ‘Are they above the line athletically?’ Alright, and then let’s watch the tape and let’s let their football character bleed off the tape. Every one of our players that you look at, they have great football character, and it bled off of the tape at us.”
Dennis Allen finally admitted what had been speculated for a while.
This pretty much confirms that Johnson is now guiding the talent-acquisition process. Between 2022 and 2024, when it was clearly general manager Ryan Poles who ran the show, the focus was on physical upside. That isn’t shocking. NFL scouts, by nature, focus on such things. They become enamored with what a player can become. Coaches, by contrast, are more interested in who a player is. Upside is important, sure, but they don’t like taking gambles on guys who haven’t shown much of anything on tape.
It was much the same this year. Dillon Thieneman checked the athletic boxes to be sure, but it was his excellent film from his final season at Oregon that swayed the Bears to leave their comfort zone. Remember, they hadn’t drafted a safety in the 1st round in 36 years. Logan Jones, a 25-year-old center, went in the 2nd round because he started 51 games at a top program and oozed the type of football passion the team craved. Dennis Allen made sure this approach stayed the course with Malik Muhammad and Keyshaun Elliott in the 4th and 5th rounds as well.
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It is possible Allen wasn’t on board with this at first.
If you look back at the 2025 draft, it felt like the Bears leaned a bit more into the physical upside approach. That was certainly the case with linebacker Ruben Hyppolite and cornerback Zah Frazier. Now one is a little more than a special teams backup, and the other was just cut. Such setbacks may have pushed the veteran coordinator to shift more towards Johnson’s way of thinking. Already, there is serious buzz building around Thieneman and Muhammad in rookie minicamps.
The harsh truth is that the upside strategy only works if you have two things: an excellent coaching staff and a roster full of established veterans who could show the young guys how to be professionals. The Bears had neither through those first three years of Poles’ tenure. Rather than double down on it after Johnson arrived, the team chose to focus more on strong tape and productivity. The result was one of their best draft classes in years in 2025. If they find similar success in 2026, this team is poised for big things.
