Everybody knew head coach Ben Johnson would likely be defined by the staff he built after taking over the Chicago Bears. It was especially true for his choice of defensive coordinator. Plenty of strong, offensive-minded head coaches have been sunk by poor selections at that spot. Maybe Marc Trestman survives longer than two years if he finds anybody better than Mel Tucker. Fortunately, Johnson wasn’t naive enough to bring somebody from Detroit with him. He sought a proven name with a strong track record. Dennis Allen was the one who jumped out immediately.

Between 2018 and 2022, he built one of the NFL’s best defenses in New Orleans. Experts lauded him for his intelligence, diversified approach, and ability to adjust on the fly. Bears players have already expressed significant interest in what Allen brings to the table. Montez Sweat and Jaylon Johnson both seem excited about the changes. However, nobody is more excited about Allen’s arrival than Jaquan Brisker, according to Courtney Cronin of ESPN. For the first time, he feels the Bears have a coordinator who can get the most out of the young safety’s ability.

Safety Jaquan Brisker, who was limited to five games last season due to a concussion, is eager to return to the field because he’ll have many opportunities to display his versatility in the secondary.

“[To] show I’m a Swiss Army knife,” Brisker said, “how he moves pieces around, and how we run so many different things, and we can all make it look the same or vice versa. Things like that. That’s what I love about it. DA is smart.

“I know he’s going to put us in the right positions.”

Dennis Allen tends to make great use of safeties.

His track record speaks for itself. He squeezed one last Pro Bowl out of a 38-year-old Brian Dawkins in Denver, then did the same with a 37-year-old Charles Woodson, a former cornerback, in Oakland. His crowning achievements came in New Orleans, where he developed Vonn Bell, Marcus Williams, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson into highly productive players. He even got a great season out of Kenny Vaccaro, who had three interceptions and 1.5 sacks in 2017.

If you’re looking for an example of what Dennis Allen can do with Brisker, it would be that. Vaccaro boasted a similar skill set with size, aggression, and physicality. The key difference is that the Bears’ safety is better in coverage. No wonder Brisker is so excited. If Allen uses him like he used Vaccaro, this could be a breakout year. The timing couldn’t be better with Brisker eyeing a contract extension.

Starting next week, DBB will be dialing in the Bears coverage and bringing you some inside information from Lake Forest as training camp begins for this pivotal 2025 season. This week, not so much. Let’s have some haiku fun before things get serious!

I mourn, in quiet,

as Jahns leaves the New York Times.

“Sports writing” is gone.

Few people are more familiar with the Chicago Bears‘ murky legacy with quarterbacks than Brian Urlacher. He played with so many different ones during his Hall of Fame career. Since retiring in 2013, he has watched several more take up the mantle. Given his knowledge of the game, one would think the linebacker has an educated opinion on who deserves the title of best Bears quarterback since the start of the new millennium. Urlacher certainly has some interesting options.

The most obvious at first glance is Jay Cutler. He has the last playoff victory the Bears hold to date, defeating the Seattle Seahawks in 2010. He also holds every meaningful franchise passing record. If not him, another possibility is Mitch Trubisky. He made a Pro Bowl and won a division title in 2018. Justin Fields set rushing records in his brief time with the organization. Hell, he could make a case for Rex Grossman, who actually got the franchise to a Super Bowl, which those others did not.

His choice was quite a stunner.

Brian Urlacher remains steadfast in his defense of Kyle Orton.

He stated it clearly. Forget the numbers. He’s all about wins and leadership. Orton was an on-and-off starter for the Bears between 2005 and 2008. In that time, he went 21-12 and got them to the playoffs once. Unfortunately, the former 4th round pick had a low ceiling as a passer. His completion percentage was always low, and he didn’t offer much explosiveness in the passing game. He was best managing games through a strong rushing attack, which served that team well enough in the mid-to-late 2000s. Brian Urlacher still believes the Bears would’ve contended for another Super Bowl if they’d kept Orton. Trading for Cutler was unnecessary and hurt team chemistry more than anything.

This choice is easy to debate, but Urlacher is entitled to his opinion. If nothing else, he is correct on one count. Orton remains underappreciated to this day.

Usually, when a player gets drafted to the NFL, they hope to stay in the same position they made it to the pros in. Quarterbacks want to stay quarterbacks. Cornerbacks want to stay cornerbacks. However, history shows that more than a few guys who hear their names called in April will end up switching positions at some point. Teams view their skillsets as better fits elsewhere. Corners may move to safety. Wide receivers may become running backs. Linebackers could shift to edge rushers. The most common area for position switches is the offensive line. Few know that better than Chicago Bears 6th round pick Luke Newman.

Between Holy Cross and Michigan State, he shifted positions multiple times in his college career. He dabbled at tackle and center before ending up at guard last year with the Spartans. Most experts felt that spot was the best for him because he seemed to mesh with it best. However, Newman understands the NFL is a different animal. If he wants to carve out a long career in the pros, he must play the position that fits his skill set the best. For him, that will require another position switch.

“Guard has been more of my natural feel this past season,” Newman said. “But really this offseason the primary focus has been center. I definitely have a good understanding of how to play the position intellectually. It’s a new playbook here and there’s an adjustment period for that as well.

“I really think that center, all in all, fits more my body type. It’s more of what my strengths are. I have that guard flexibility as well. But I really look forward to learning and adapting to center a lot more.”

Newman understands his path with the Chicago Bears.

Guards in the NFL tend to be around 6’4 and 315 lbs. The Chicago Bears’ rookie is 6’3 and 308 lbs. So he is somewhat undersized already. Throw in his 31-inch arms, making him a matchup issue against bigger defensive linemen. However, that changes at center. Size matters less than quickness, athleticism, and intelligence. Luke Newman has all three of those traits. He is right. Switching makes the most sense. The problem is he faces a tough battle to stick on the roster with that decision. Chicago already has a starting center with Drew Dalman. Then you have Doug Kramer, who has more experience, and former 3rd round pick Ricky Stromberg, who is also ready to compete. Newman must somehow outduel those two if he wants any hope of cracking the roster.