The Chicago Bears hired Ben Johnson as their head coach because he was one of the most successful offensive coordinators in the NFL. They felt he had the necessary expertise to help cultivate quarterback Caleb Williams into the star they envisioned. Anything beyond that would be a bonus. It didn’t take long to realize that Johnson, beyond the offensive genius, is an intense competitor who holds everybody to a high standard, players and coaches alike. However, it didn’t just stop there.

One fundamental belief that Johnson clung to as an offensive playcaller is that the less predictable you are, the more successful you’ll be. He often talks about making different plays look the same and the same plays look different. It goes a step further. One thing he is highly conscious of is avoiding the obvious in certain situations. He took that to sicko levels in 2025, as Robert Mays pointed out in The Athletic Football Show. The Bears threw the ball more in 2nd and short situations than any other team, and ran the ball more in 3rd and medium situations than any other team.

Ben Johnson has the guts to go where nobody else will.

Conventional wisdom in the NFL has always been that you run the ball on 2nd and short. It’s basically a free down. If you don’t get the first down, you’re still left with 3rd and short, which should be an easy completion for the quarterback. Johnson sees it differently. Rather than see it as a freebie run play for a conversion, why not use it as an opportunity for a big play down the field? Hitting a 30-yard pass is far more valuable than converting a three-yard run. Thinking about it like that, it’s hard to understand why other coaches haven’t adopted this thinking sooner.

Then you come to the 3rd and medium runs. This is the one that truly goes against the grain. Every fiber in the being of coaches is to throw the ball if it’s beyond two yards to the sticks. The risks of being stuffed for no gain are too great, and everybody will think they’re a fool for trying something so reckless. Not Johnson. He knows the defenses think the same way. Anything beyond three yards to a first down is a clear passing situation, and they adjust their personnel accordingly. That means a lighter box.

If that is the case, Johnson will run it. Chicago did that 28 times last season, five more than the next-closest teams.

The Bears certainly made it work.

Despite doing it more often than any other team by miles, they still averaged a healthy 4.2 yards per carry in those situations. By far the most critical usage of that strategy came in overtime against Green Bay last December. Facing 3rd and 3 from their own 43-yard line, the Bears couldn’t risk giving the ball back to the Packers. Did that deter Ben Johnson? Not in the slightest. He calls a counter play to Kyle Monangai with both Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet pulling, picking up 11 yards. One play later, a play action fake to Monangai opened up the now-iconic 46-yard touchdown bomb to D.J. Moore for the win.

Every decision leads into the next one. That is what makes Johnson such a nightmare for defenses to deal with. He doesn’t do conventional, and unpredictability is anathema to successful defense in the NFL. It always has been. Tendencies are the enemy of progress. Johnson strives to erase them as much as one can. He’ll just go to levels that most others wouldn’t dare to touch. It can be incredibly stressful to watch as a fan, but nobody can deny it has the desired effect.

The thing about professional sports is it’s a cyclical thing. One generation is influenced by the previous and that generation influences the next. It is a central way sports stay in business. It is no different for the NFL. Every talented young player who enters the league is almost invariably influenced by somebody great from years past. Caleb Williams loved Aaron Rodgers growing up. Jaylon Johnson took after Richard Sherman. Colston Loveland is a big fan of George Kittle. The list goes on. It is no different for Chicago Bears rookie wide receiver Zavion Thomas.

While he wanted to build his own style of play, it was inevitable that he would be influenced by somebody. Larry Mayer of Chicagobears.com asked him who that might be. Thomas reeled off four names. None of them follows a similar line of thinking.

“Odell Beckham. LeBron. Tavon Austin. Braxton Miller.”

Beckham makes obvious sense. For a short period in the 2010s, he was the most dynamic receiver in football with the New York Giants. Many kids probably saw him as an idol. Then we get a little weird. LeBron James is one of the two or three best basketball players of all time. Tavon Austin was a superstar at West Virginia, but had an okay NFL career. Braxton Miller? He was a stud quarterback for Ohio State between 2011 and 2013. Sadly, he didn’t make it in the NFL after switching to wide receiver.

Zavion Thomas seems influenced by undersized wizards.

Beckham was an LSU legend, so that connection isn’t hard to make. LeBron is a worldwide superstar, even if he plays a different sport. The more telling names are Austin and Miller. Both were considered undersized. Austin was only 5’8″, and Miller was 6’1″. People kept telling them they were too small to make it in big-time football. Then they dominated. Thomas, who is only 5’10” himself, was undoubtedly drawn to their ability to defy the odds through speed, athleticism, and dogged determination.

Nobody can say Thomas lacks any of those qualities. He’s been determined to get to the NFL for a long time. In fact, he got it tattooed on himself when he was 16 years old.

I got it at 16. I got it because my dad and my uncle, they have “HFL” on their arms and that’s basically where they grew up – Harvey, Louisiana. So when I saw their tattoo, I was thinking it was NFL, and I’m going to the NFL, so I was like, “all right, y’all got HFL, I’m putting NFL.”

Thomas has heard the buzz about him: short, skinny, not productive enough, maybe has a future as a returner. Nobody is giving him a chance to become a viable receiver in Chicago. Head coach Ben Johnson and the Bears brass feel differently. They think he has untapped potential.

Thomas knows what he’s up against.

This isn’t a situation where he is joining a team devoid of talent at wide receiver. The Bears have no incentive to plug him in immediately just because he’s a 3rd round pick. Rome Odunze and Luther Burden are already entrenched as starters. Kalif Raymond is a dependable veteran who can do all the same things Thomas can. If the rookie wants to get on the field, he’ll have to earn it in practice. The good news is he’s already in the process of doing that. Reports indicate he was one of the clear standouts at OTAs and minicamps in the spring.

Can he succeed where others like Austin and Miller failed? He certainly landed in a great situation. Zavion Thomas will have Ben Johnson as his head coach. Few in the NFL are better at finding ways to get receivers open. If the rookie learns to master the details, he’ll have his chances. From that point, it’s about making plays. Beckham and LeBron certainly knew lots about that. Thomas will carve his own path. Bears fans hope it will be a good one.

Most trades in NFL history fall into a few select categories. You have the crafty depth additions who emerge as key contributors at key moments in a season. There are the ones where a team lands an unexpected gem who becomes a good-to-great player. Then you have the aggressive deals to acquire a star that transforms a good team into a championship one. There are very few that can be called foundation-shifting. These are trades that set an organization up with enough assets to transform the fortunes of an entire roster, not just one spot. The infamous Herschell Walker trade between Dallas and Minnesota in 1989 is a perfect example. Nobody ever thought something like that would happen again, much less from the Chicago Bears.

Many odds were defied that fateful day in 2023. Trading the #1 overall pick was a gutsy decision by the Bears at the time. They were passing on a chance to land a franchise quarterback in favor of gambling on a large package of picks to hopefully revamp a roster that had been torn down to the stubs. Through a mix of good scouting and astounding luck, the Bears set out on a journey that took them from the worst team in football to Super Bowl contenders in three years. Unlike other rebuilds, this one originates from a single moment in time. It’s a story that deserves revisiting.

Chapter 1: Lovie Smith’s final gift to the Chicago Bears

Lovie Smith is a beloved figure among Bears fans these days. While he was never perfect as a head coach, his frustrating inability to find a capable offensive coordinator proved his eventual undoing, the man won football games. He built some of the best defenses in franchise history during the mid-2000s and led them to only their second-ever Super Bowl appearance. Had he gotten better luck at quarterback, it’s likely Smith would have a ring and probably would not have been unceremoniously fired in 2012.

After that, the head coach found his next opportunity in Tampa Bay. Taking over a rebuilding team, it looked like he was pushing the Bucs in the right direction. Unfortunately, he was again fired, this time because the team feared losing offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, who seemed to have a strong connection with quarterback Jameis Winston. Smith retreated to the college ranks, where he became the head coach at Illinois for a few years. Then in 2021, he was called back to the NFL as defensive coordinator in Houston. A year later, he was elevated to head coach.

Anybody with common sense could see Smith was set up as a sacrificial lamb. The Texans had no quarterback and featured a roster in disrepair. It was evident they were lining up to tank for a high draft choice. Smith was just there to be their bridge to the next guy. Unwilling to accept that, the head coach decided to ruin the plan.

Chapter 2: The Jordan Akins Game

The setup was perfect. Going into the final game of the 2022 season, the Texans had the worst record in the NFL. All they had to do was lose the finale against the rival Indianapolis Colts, and they would secure the coveted #1 overall pick. Chicago, which was the only team in position to challenge them, finished 3-14. So they needed Houston to win if they wanted to claim that pick. The game unfolded as nobody expected. Houston jumped out to a 17-7 lead, playing with more energy than they’d displayed in months.

That didn’t last long. Indianapolis stormed back, eventually moving ahead 31-24 with 3:33 left in the 4th quarter. Houston looked dead in the water. Then the madness ensued. Quarterback Davis Mills led them on a drive from their own 17, converting a 3rd and 13 and a 4th and 12 along the way, to reach the Colts’ 18. Then a sack dropped them to the 28. It was 4th and 20. That was it. The game was over.

Seventeen seconds later, tight end Jordan Akins had changed the course of history, first by catching a Hail Mary for a touchdown, then by snagging the 2-point conversion. Just like that, the Texans won the game 32-31, handing Chicago the #1 pick. Smith was fired by Houston that same day.

Chapter 3: The Decision

It marked the first time in Chicago Bears history that the team held the top pick in the draft. General manager Ryan Poles was in a fascinating position. It wasn’t hard to decipher that he would likely wish to look for his own quarterback, having inherited Justin Fields from the previous regime. The 2023 draft class offered two prominent prospects to consider: Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud. It would’ve been an easy decision. No one would’ve blamed Poles for starting over at the most important position. It happens a lot.

However, the GM also understood another reality. The Bears’ roster was in dire need of help across the board. Not just at quarterback. To fix it, Poles needed assets. The best way to get them would be by auctioning off the #1 pick to another team desperate for a quarterback. By the time the scouting combine arrived, the decision was made. The Bears started fielding calls about the pick. Eventually, the Carolina Panthers emerged as the biggest suitor. Their owner, Dave Tepper, was pushing for a quarterback. The two sides eventually reached a deal.

The Panthers get:

#1 pick in the 2023 draft

The Bears get:

• WR D.J. Moore
• #9 pick in the 2023 draft
• 2nd round pick 2023 draft
• 1st round pick in 2024 draft
• 2nd round pick in 2025 draft

Carolina went on to select Young a month later. Chicago swung a smaller trade with Philadelphia to move down to #10, selecting Tennessee right tackle Darnell Wright. With the 2nd rounder, they added Miami cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. Wright made second-team All-Pro in 2025.

Chapter 4: Caleb

One of the biggest debates among fans today is whether they think Poles felt the Panthers would be bad enough to give the Bears a shot at the #1 pick again in 2024. The likely answer is the GM felt it was a possibility, but probably wasn’t banking on it. The bottom line for him was that he’d have two 1st round picks in 2024, and that would give him tons of flexibility to go hunting for his quarterback, presuming Fields didn’t take a big step forward that season. Not a single person expected Carolina to go 2-15.

This marked only the sixth time in the Super Bowl era that a team earned the #1 overall pick two years in a row. What makes it even crazier is that it was the first time that both picks didn’t originally belong to the team. Chicago is the only one to have successfully traded for it.

Once it was clear the Bears had the pick, everybody knew they would take a quarterback. The timing couldn’t have been better. Most experts agreed the 2024 class was one of the strongest in years, and headlining it was USC star Caleb Williams. The former Heisman winner drew comparisons to Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes. His skills were called “generational.” Despite other options like Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels, the Bears decided pretty early that Williams was their guy. Fields was traded, and the card was turned in.

Chapter 5: Finding the shepherd

Things didn’t go as the Chicago Bears had hoped that first season. Embattled head coach Matt Eberflus clearly didn’t have a strong plan for developing Williams. That, along with a series of brutal late-game collapses, saw him get fired by Thanksgiving, leaving the young quarterback’s fate uncertain. Despite this, Williams still started every game, threw 25 touchdowns to just eight interceptions, and broke a winless streak against the Green Bay Packers that had lasted since 2019 with a late comeback at Lambeau Field. The goal going into the 2025 offseason was clear.

Find Williams a head coach.

They had plenty of intriguing targets. Former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel was available, as was hotshot Buccaneers coordinator Liam Coen, and future Hall of Famer Pete Carroll. Yet everybody knew the big fish in the pond was Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.

The 38-year-old had put together three stellar seasons in Detroit, transforming a longtime bottom-of-the-barrel franchise into a contender. Chicago knew as far back as December that Johnson was the guy they wanted. After a tense few weeks of waiting for the Lions’ season to end and other teams trying to lure him as well, the Bears closed the deal. Johnson would be the one to oversee Williams and the Bears’ fortunes.

Chapter 6: The cherry on the Bears’ sundae

With that done, Poles had one last piece of business to attend to. There was one asset remaining from the trade two years ago. It was Carolina’s 2nd round pick, which became the 39th overall selection. After taking tight end Colston Loveland with the 10th pick in the 1st round, Johnson and Poles hoped to land help at running back at #39. They specifically had eyes for Ohio State’s Treyveon Henderson. It looked like they got their wish, until New England snagged him at #38 overall. Disappointed but not dismayed, the Bears had to pivot. Still desiring another weapon for Williams, the team quickly pinpointed their alternate option.

Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden.

Burden and Loveland quickly became sparkplugs for the Bears’ new offense. Williams threw for a franchise-best 3,941 yards with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Easily one of the best seasons a Bears quarterback has ever had. Chicago finished 9th in scoring and 6th in total yards, had seven 4th quarter comebacks, went 11-6, and beat Green Bay in the wild card round of the playoffs.

Almost everything that happened over those five months can be traced back to the fateful moment in January of 2023 when Akins caught that two-point conversion. It is one of the great stories in recent NFL history. Just one or two minor changes to the timeline, and the Chicago Bears don’t sit where they are now, boasting a franchise quarterback, a talented core of young talent around him, and legitimate Super Bowl aspirations. Depending on what happens in the coming years, it might be the most impactful singular transaction in history.

The Chicago Bears‘ defense underachieved last year. While everybody remains focused on the disappointing pass rush, the reality is that their entire unit was hamstrung by a litany of injuries. Kyler Gordon missed most of the season. T.J. Edwards missed long stretches of time with multiple issues. Grady Jarrett injured his knee. Dayo Odeyingbo tore his Achilles. Shemar Turner tore his ACL. It was a mess. Yet by far the biggest blow was Jaylon Johnson, as the star cornerback missed half the year after tearing the abductor muscle off the bone.

As a result, he didn’t perform overly well in 2025. He gave up career highs in completion percentage (72.7) and yards per completion (16.0) and allowed 122 yards after the catch in just seven games. It was definitely not up to the standard of somebody who’d just made back-to-back Pro Bowls. It seems to have also delivered a blow to his reputation around the NFL, as coaches and executives didn’t see fit to put Johnson on the latest list of top 10 cornerbacks. The best they could do was an honorable mention.

Honorable mention

Jaylon Johnson, Chicago Bears: “Time on task has been an issue. He missed a lot of camp and game action. But he’s young (27), so he should be able to get back to his top form. He’s got juice when he’s full tilt.” — NFL personnel evaluator

Doubting Jaylon Johnson comes with consequences.

Bears fans have known for years that the quarterback thrives on being doubted. It is a central part of his motivation. That started when he dropped to the 2nd round in the 2020 draft. He always felt he was disrespected after such a productive career at Utah. Since then, he’s made it his mission to show everybody they made a mistake. One would think he’d built up enough credibility in 2023 and 2024 to deserve some proper respect. Instead, it’s being shrugged off as a decent run. Now he has declined, with questions about whether he can regain his old form.

That is a big mistake. Jaylon Johnson is already one of the most self-motivated players in football. Giving him this priceless material only lights the fire further. That is not good news for the Bears’ upcoming schedule of opponents. Johnson is hard enough to deal with when he’s just his usual self. When he is on a mission to make somebody pay, the results are never good for them. Ironically, this casual dismissal of his accomplishments does him a big favor. It ensures there will be no shortage of reasons to crush everything in his way.

The Bears’ defense gets way more dangerous in this scenario.

History has shown that Dennis Allen’s system always functions at its best when he has a top-level cornerback who can erase one half of the field. You saw it for a solid few years in New Orleans when he had Marshon Lattimore. Those exotic blitzes and coverages become far more dangerous when the opponent knows they can’t risk throwing it at guys like that. Jaylon Johnson was in that category not too long ago. He remains in his physical prime. All signs from spring practices suggest he was in excellent shape.

Presuming he avoids another major injury, the Bears will be getting a demon back in 2026. Together with new additions like Coby Bryant and Dillon Thieneman, they could field one of the more dynamic secondaries in the NFL. That would certainly make life a little easier for their pass rush, which struggled for stretches last season. If Johnson does accomplish this, he should thank ESPN for the extra boost.

It is hard to find optimism around the Chicago Bears‘ defense going into 2026. The unit was one of the NFL’s worst last season, outside of leading the league in takeaways. This offseason felt like one where it should’ve gotten most of the resource focus. While they did get some notable infusions, many don’t believe it was enough. They didn’t make any notable additions to the defensive line, instead focusing on the secondary and linebackers. That isn’t the path to better defense in today’s NFL.

One insider isn’t quite as pessimistic. Ted Nguyen of The Athletic is one of the more respected analysts, known for his intense film study. He doesn’t believe the Bears are nearly the lost cause others make them out to be. Their additions in the draft and free agency in March and April had a method to their madness. It doesn’t improve the pass rush, which was the biggest issue for most. It does, however, help shore up what their actual biggest issue was last year: the run defense.

Stopping the run makes this Chicago Bears defense better.

The Bears had two different defenses last year: Their early-down defense and their third-down defense. They ranked 25th in defensive EPA per snap on first and second down, but ranked seventh on third down. The Bears ranked second on third-and-fourth down with more than seven yards to the first-down marker. The reason was simple: they struggled mightily to stop the run. They ranked 26th in defensive rushing success rate and 27th in explosive rush rate allowed. We saw coordinator Dennis Allen’s ingenuity with his disguises and pressures in obvious passing situations, but the defense didn’t earn enough of those opportunities because it couldn’t stop the run, which resulted in finishing 25th in defensive DVOA.

Have the Bears done enough to shore up the run defense? They didn’t upgrade the defensive tackle room much. They added some depth, but Gervon Dexter Sr. and Grady Jarrett remain the starters. The return of corner Kyler Gordon, who played only two games last season, will help the run defense. Free-agent signing Devin Bush will help as well. First-round pick Dillon Thieneman was excellent against the run in college and will add a disruptive force coming from depth against the run as well.

The weakness at defensive tackle will likely prevent them from being a high-level run defense, but the surrounding pieces could be enough to at least make them average. That would be a force multiplier for them with how good Allen is as a play caller in passing situations.

History says this prediction for the Chicago Bears defense is correct.

John Fox was criticized for saying that the essence of defensive football is stopping the run. Many said such thinking was outdated. It’s all about rushing the passer now. That is not true. It is difficult to reach the quarterback if the opponent can keep pounding it down your throat and using play action. This was the trap the Bears fell into too often last year. They just couldn’t stop the bleeding. They allowed at least 160 yards in seven games. Winning isn’t easy under those circumstances. By contrast, the Bears had five games where they allowed less than 100 yards.

They were 5-0 in those games. In fact, if you look at Dennis Allen’s history as a defensive play caller, his best defenses occurred when they had a strong run-stopping unit.

Even if you give him something in the #14-16 range, the odds are good that Allen can produce a quality defensive unit. At least one that won’t get bulldozed by quality opponents every week.

The Bears are leaning on some tough variables.

A big one is health. As Nguyen mentioned, keeping cornerback Kyler Gordon on the field is critical. He’s such an underrated part of their run defense. The same is true for defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo. For all the debates about his pass rush value, his size and length are pretty effective at setting the edge against the run. Then you have T.J. Edwards. Injuries really slowed the linebacker last season. Some aren’t sure if he can regain his old form. If he does, and Devin Bush plays well, that would be a big help.

Then you have the new back end of the Chicago Bears defense. Unlike last season, they now have two smart, physical safeties with the speed and physicality to chase down running backs. Coby Bryant had 66 tackles in just 15 games last year, and Dillon Thieneman averaged 100 in his three college seasons with Purdue and Oregon. If the Bears get a bout of good health and some immediate contributions from their new additions, this prediction isn’t as crazy as it sounds.

If it wasn’t clear that the pressure was on Rome Odunze before, it certainly is now. Expectations were high for the former 9th overall pick last season. Things started great. He was scoring lots of touchdowns in his first few games, looking like a true #1 target. Then a foot injury derailed everything. He lost a good deal of his burst and struggled getting open as often. If that weren’t bad enough, Odunze also again struggled making catches. He had multiple drops and was frequently outmuscled for the ball in 50/50 situations.

What made it so frustrating for fans and experts is that this wasn’t an issue for him in college. Making tough catches was considered one of Odunze’s defining traits. Now, through two seasons, he has caught just 51.3% of the passes thrown his way. Head coach Ben Johnson already started reducing his target share last season in favor of tight end Colston Loveland. It appears Luther Burden is about to get a bump as well. Odunze must put together a good season in 2026, or his time in Chicago becomes uncertain.

Never one to back down from a challenge, the receiver has been studying hard to correct the problem this offseason. How? By looking into how current and former greats operated in those same situations. Odunze explained on the 4th & 1 Show with Cam Newton.

“I looked up to guys like Davante Adams, Julio Jones, I was even watching some Puka (Nacua) film from last year, especially at the catch point,” Odunze explained. “I want to be better at the catch point this year when it comes to contested catches, catching in stride, and all of those different things. Making the quarterback look good when I need to… When it might be a go-make-a-play play, I want to make that play. I watch film on all of those guys and continue to study that and I’ll display that this season, for sure.”

Rome Odunze must learn to weaponize his size.

That is something Julio Jones, Davante Adams, and Puka Nacua all share. Aside from being great athletes and route-runners, they understood that the best way to make tough catches was to approach them like a basketball player. Attack the ball in the air, using your big frame to box out the defender. It isn’t just about strong hands. It is about mentality. You must think like an alpha. Once the ball is in the air, it’s your ball, and nobody else’s. Odunze hasn’t always been treating it that way, despite his 6’3″, 215 lbs frame.

One stat that is pretty telling for great wide receivers is called Catch Success Rate. This is the number of receptions made divided by the number of targets. The higher the percentage, the better a receiver is at making plays. Nowadays, you should be at least above 60% to be called a top player in the league. The absolute best ones usually get above 67%. Rome Odunze has a long way to climb.

This is why Burden should have him nervous.

Despite being a rookie, the former 2nd round pick was very reliable. On 60 targets last season, he caught 47 passes, which works out to a 78.3 catch percentage. People talked about his explosiveness all day. They didn’t bother mentioning his consistency bringing the ball in. That means he offers everything necessary for a #1 wide receiver. Odunze doesn’t have his speed or his hands. That doesn’t mean he lacks talent, but the Bears drafted him with the expectation that he would become a star.

Time is running out. The longer Rome Odunze takes to put it all together, the more time it gives others on the offense to claim that top spot instead. He sounds motivated, which is good. Hard work never scared the young receiver. He’s also humble enough to recognize that what he’s been doing isn’t enough. Sometimes you must accept your faults and find a way to correct them. Studying some of the best, past or present, is a common solution to these problems.