Losing 52-21 raised all sorts of questions about the direction of your team. Ben Johnson has been on the job for two weeks and already has people questioning his validity. Make no mistake. He isn’t going anywhere. The Chicago Bears hired him to right the ship and you don’t change course after two games. The franchise needs to give him time. The issue is that nobody knows what the direction of this team is. GM Ryan Poles was just extended despite growing evidence that his roster is poorly constructed. Even if the team spirals, it feels like the McCaskeys won’t consider firing him.
That said, it may not matter. Evidence has been growing that Poles may no longer call the shots on roster construction. Multiple insiders have suggested that power has passed to Johnson. The direction of the 2025 offseason offered evidence that, with a heavy focus on offense and targeting players Poles would’ve avoided in previous years. Benjamin Allbright of KOA Colorado chimed in on the situation. He reiterated that Johnson isn’t going anywhere, and he may have plans to make serious changes going into next year.
Ben Johnson will use 2025 as an evaluation period.
It is similar to what Dan Campbell did in his first year with the Detroit Lions. That first season in 2021 was brutal, finishing 3-13-1. Going into 2022, significant changes were made. Matthew Stafford was traded to Los Angeles. T.J. Hockenson followed a few months later. Other starters like Trey Flowers, Jaylen Reeves-Maybin, and Nick Williams were shown the door. The team took advantage of some high draft choices to add staples like Aidan Hutchinson and Penei Sewell. After a long struggle, they finally started seeing results halfway through 2022. That is likely how Ben Johnson sees things. He is in the early 2021 Lions phase, evaluating everybody on the roster and pinpointing what changes will be needed.
It is a difficult and sometimes demoralizing process. The hard part is trusting Johnson to know what he’s doing. Bears fans might do well to hunker down and put their mouthguards in. This could get worse before it gets better.
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