Ben Johnson always knew there would be a time he’d lose Declan Doyle to a job elsewhere. The young assistant was highly regarded in NFL circles even before joining the Chicago Bears. He probably just never thought it would happen this quickly. After one season, helping the team reach the playoffs and turn Caleb Williams into a legitimate franchise quarterback, Doyle was poached by the Baltimore Ravens. He will become the latest to oversee Lamar Jackson’s superstar career. As for Johnson, he’s left with a dilemma.

It felt like there was an obvious replacement for Doyle waiting in the wings after the New York Jets fired offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand. He’d worked with Johnson for years in Detroit. A reunion felt easy to see coming. However, it appears the Bears were intercepted before that could happen. Engstrand signed on with the Atlanta Falcons as their new passing game coordinator, joining former Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham and head coach Kevin Stefanski.

Ben Johnson now faces an interesting decision.

With Engstrand out of the picture, the options for the next offensive coordinator become more uncertain. The quickest solution is promoting someone on the staff. Quarterback coach J.T. Barrett and wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El feel like obvious choices. Tight ends coach Jim Dray is another possibility. If Johnson prefers to bring in an outside voice, then it gets murky. Could he try plucking from Dan Campbell’s staff in Detroit? That seems unlikely after a supposed agreement that he wouldn’t.

He could go back to the Sean Payton tree again, having gotten Doyle from there last year. Davis Webb is a hot commodity at the moment. Maybe Ben Johnson tries dipping his toes into that pool. John Morton, who he tried luring from USC last year before Detroit got him, is now in Denver. Joe Lombardi was just fired by the Broncos as a scapegoat for the AFC Championship loss despite not calling plays. Or Johnson could bypass all of that to venture into the great unknown. With the Senior Bowl over, it’s possible we see a resolution within the week.

If there is one lesson to learn about the draft every year, it’s that players who are viewed as the best prospects in a class by the media and fans may not be viewed the same inside the league. That is why certain guys tend to fall on draft day. However, other factors come into play as well. Sometimes it’s health issues. Sometimes it’s off-the-field stuff. One thing that isn’t discussed often enough is money. That may seem odd given the NFL’s rookie wage scale, but that structure could play into the Chicago Bears’ hands this year.

Draft insider Dane Brugler revealed in a media appearance recently that the rookie wage scale isn’t defined by position. It is by pick. In other words, whoever a team selects at a certain spot will pay that player a specific amount of money, regardless of position. That is a big reason why you’ve seen linebackers and safeties less prevalent in the top half of the 1st round in recent years. This is why there is a strong possibility that Caleb Downs, Ohio State’s elite safety and one of the highest-ranked prospects in the class, could experience a fall on draft night in April.

The Chicago Bears have every reason to target Downs.

For one, they have a glaring need at safety. All four of their top players at the position will be free agents this spring. There is no way they’ll be able to keep all four. GM Ryan Poles will have to go hunting for a long-term solution in the draft at some point. Downs is considered one of the best to come out of college in years, drawing comparisons to former All-Pro Eric Berry. Don’t forget Poles was a scout in Kansas City when they drafted Berry. If he sees the same things, he won’t hesitate to go after Downs.

People should not dismiss the idea outright. No safety has gone higher than 11th since 2018, and the only one to crack the top 20 in the past six years was Kyle Hamilton in 2022. That suggests there is a strong possibility Downs could at least reach the mid-teens in the 1st round this year. If the Chicago Bears want to be aggressive in hunting for a difference-maker on defense, that is a trade scenario they can consider.

The team to watch would be Dallas. They have two picks at #12 and #20 with a need at safety. If they pass on Downs with that first pick, they won’t with the second, which means the Bears have to get to at least #19.

The Chicago Bears have now lost two key assistant coaches to jobs elsewhere. Eric Bieniemy left to become the offensive coordinator in Kansas City. Declan Doyle took the same job in Baltimore. Head coach Ben Johnson must look for replacements. Thankfully, it didn’t include a third name. For the past two weeks, there were serious rumblings that defensive backs coach Al Harris might leave for a defensive coordinator position elsewhere. Four separate teams interviewed him for the job.

By a stroke of luck, all four chose different candidates. Barring a late change, Harris appears set to return for another year in Chicago. This is great news for the secondary, which thrived this season, with both Kevin Byard and Nahshon Wright making the Pro Bowl. However, the good fortune doesn’t end there. One NFL executive revealed that keeping Harris will be a huge benefit to the Bears in another way. That will be their likely goal of selecting a safety in the upcoming NFL draft.

One cannot overstate how challenging it will be.

Veteran scouts will tell you it’s a difficult position to draft — more challenging than you might think.

“It takes so much tape because for a 65-play game, they don’t do (crap) for 40 plays,” an assistant GM said. “If offensive coordinators come through the quarterback room — and we know what a difficult position quarterback is to evaluate — defensive coordinators often come through the DB room because you have to understand the whole field. You have to understand the concept and what is being asked, what coverage are they running.

“With cornerbacks, you are hyperfocused on the movement traits and leverage and is he reading stems and all that. Safety, if you don’t have an experienced guy evaluating them, you’re in trouble because there is so much nuance to it. There’s so much focus on leverage, technique, where his eyes are. It’s not just traits and, ‘OK, this guy can run. He works.’”

Al Harris can help the Bears evade a big problem.

One must not forget the team has four safeties hitting free agency this year, including both of their starters. The chances of Chicago retaining all four seem remote, meaning there will be at least one void they must fill. Early projections have Jaquan Brisker being a likely casualty. The same goes for C.J. Gardner-Johnson. There is no chance the team can replace both in free agency. They don’t have the cap space. Instead, expect them to go after somebody in the draft, and that is where Al Harris comes in.

He’s played and coached defensive backs for almost 30 years. In that time, he has seen plenty of great safeties like Brian Dawkins, Darren Sharper, Nick Collins, and Eric Berry. Harris understands what the good ones are supposed to look like. His steady eye should help guide the Bears through the difficult process of finding somebody in this draft who can be a long-term solution. Remember, even if Byard returns, he is in his mid-30s. They need a young infusion, regardless of his presence.