The Chicago Bears offense has largely been a joke for the better part of the last 30 years. Aside from a couple of brief booms in 1995 and 2013, that side of the ball was largely a second-class citizen compared to the defense. Head coach Ben Johnson took on the monumental task of changing that when he arrived last season. To the shock of many, his impact was immediate. The running game rose to 3rd-best in the NFL and quarterback Caleb Williams delivered a franchise-best 3,941 passing yards along with 27 touchdowns to put the Bears into the playoffs.
Now, fans are wondering what to expect going into year two. Offenses tend to make a considerable jump as their grasp of the system and playbook grows. It doesn’t seem crazy to believe the same will be true for the Bears. Most of their key players from last season are back. Johnson is calling the plays and will likely dig even deeper into the playbook. Some said he was using maybe about 20% of it last season to avoid overwhelming his players.
That should create some big opportunities on the stat sheet. So here are projections for every notable name on offense.
QB Caleb Williams
- 4,532 passing yards
- 31 passing touchdowns
- 8 interceptions
- 308 rushing yards
- 5 rushing touchdowns
Historically, when quarterbacks go from the first year of an offense to the second, there is a stat bump across the board. It usually hovers around 15-20%. Presuming Williams plays the full season again, he is projected to finally become the first Bears quarterback to crack 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in the same season.
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RB D’Andre Swift
- 924 yards rushing
- 6 rushing touchdowns
- 344 yards receiving
- 2 receiving touchdowns
RB Kyle Monangai
- 900 yards rushing
- 6 rushing touchdowns
- 180 receiving yards
Nothing has changed regarding the Bears’ backfield. Swift and Monangai remain the primary tandem. Despite some offensive line changes, the blocking should still be good. It doesn’t seem likely Swift will top what he accomplished last season. His best years have hovered between 900 and 1100 rushing yards. He’ll remain productive while Monangai bumps his own contributions up a tick.
WR Rome Odunze
- 1,076 yards receiving
- 10 touchdowns
Odunze was on course for a really good season before the foot injury stunted his progress. Presuming he’s healthy, he can pick up right where he left off. With D.J. Moore out of the picture, he is now the unquestioned #1 wide receiver on this team. Williams will look his way often. That should lead to career-best numbers across the board, becoming the first player to post 1,000 yards and ten touchdowns in the same season since Alshon Jeffery in 2014.
WR Luther Burden
- 850 yards receiving
- 6 touchdowns
Of all the players on the Chicago Bears’ offense going into this season, the largest room for growth is Burden. His combination of speed, quickness, and strength is devastating. It was always a question of his finding consistency. Due to how much Johnson likes to spread the ball around, Burden’s yardage only gets a modest bump, but his touchdowns end up tripling.
WR Kalif Raymond
- 352 yards receiving
- 2 touchdowns
WR Jahdae Walker
- 274 yards receiving
WR Zavion Thomas
- 87 yards receiving
- 175 yards rushing
- 1 rushing touchdown
The trio of Raymond, Walker, and Thomas will serve as the “situational” pieces for Coach Johnson. Each has certain abilities that can be highly useful in specific situations. Raymond is a strong slot target. Thomas is a versatile chess piece who can be a weapon on jet sweeps, reverses, and even straight hand-offs. Walker showed last season that he can be a reliable option on money downs.
TE Colston Loveland
- 946 yards
- 8 touchdowns
Make no mistake. The offense is likely to go through Loveland moving forward. Caleb Williams started looking his way a lot down the stretch last season. Defenses struggled mightily to stop him. He is very much in play to become just the second Bears tight end in franchise history to crack 1,000 yards. Staying healthy is his primary hope. Everything else is lined up for a huge season.
TE Cole Kmet
- 399 yards
- 3 touchdowns
Though the Bears did draft Sam Roush in the 3rd round, there is no reason to think Kmet’s role in the offense is suddenly threatened. He was an excellent #2 tight end, serving as a quality blocker and understated threat in the passing game. Every time the team needed a big catch, he was the one making it. Messing with that formula doesn’t seem like something this coaching staff would do.
