The Bears focused so much of the draft and free agency on playmakers in order to get the most out of Caleb Williams that it seemed GM Ryan Poles left no stone unturned.
The selection of Colston Loveland and Luther Burden III especially made a statement about their commitment to improving Williams' production within Ben Johnson's offense.
"Anytime you can get the ball in the play maker's hands quickly and they can make plays after that and your completion percentage goes up, that's really good for a quarterback's confidence," Poles said after the draft. "A lot of these guys you can see on our team–in terms of the weapons–they can separate.
"When you see guys open, that's a lot easier than throwing guys open. As you go along, he (Williams) goes along, you have to do that as well. All these guys are capable of really producing with a ball in their hands. It also puts a lot of stress on the defense where we're looking at good looks, and that plays right into Ben's hands in terms of how he wants to attack each week.”
Colston Loveland is a fantastic pick.
-6’5 / 250 lbs
- 4.54 - 40
- He’s a natural separator
- Elite route runner
- Great pass catcher
- And he’s a DAWG
pic.twitter.com/9KMNDzmqI7
— Caleb Williams Fan Club (@CalebFC18) April 25, 2025
There's more to a football team than the quarterback's production, though.
It's hard to believe anyone in Chicago could worry about the other parts of a team besides the quarterback and offensive production after so many years of feeble point production but there are other concerns.
#Bears Wide Receiver Luther Burden III 2023 Season Highlights. pic.twitter.com/CYJyTA7aOo
— ImBearingDown (@ImBearingDown) April 25, 2025
It's here where the Bears will come into training camp with the softest spots on their roster. These are places Poles didn't get entirely solidified when he tried and it's become more apparent, or at least corrections couldn't be verified, through offseason work.
Here are the soft spots on the Bears' roster coming out of OTAs, the places where they could stand fortification at some level.
Colston Loveland is a WR in a TE body. Mismatch nightmare with rare versatility.
Bears got it right. #DaBears #Bears pic.twitter.com/jqmZmjlCpI
— Clay Harbor (@clayharbs82) April 25, 2025
They signed Dayo Odeyingbo and in some respects can't be entirely certain about him until games begin, but he has played effectively in four years, including three straight. It's the third spot in the rotation where the Bears have real issues.
It's a necessary and untouched place on this roster but not one requiring a big name to fix merely an effective pass rusher for a few reps a game. Last year for instance, they had 995 reps taken by five defensive ends besides starters Montez Sweat and DeMarcus Walker. Darrell Taylor had 375, Jacob Martin 222, Austin Booker 283, Dominique Robinson 84 and Daniel Hardy 31. This doesn't include the 144 plays Gervon Dexter lined up in a defensive end spot instead of at tackle.
#Bears Rookie Austin Booker with a sack in his NFL preseason debut. pic.twitter.com/dJRczSsf5r
— ImBearingDown (@ImBearingDown) August 2, 2024
They may need more than one edge, because Hardy has been taking reps at linebacker and Martin and Taylor are gone. What they'll hope is both Booker and Robinson are more advanced than last year and can take on larger roles. Then most likely they could add one.
The level and expense they'd be looking at will depend on what they've seen of Robinson and Booker. So far, at least with Robinson they are happy about his improvement.
It's still a soft spot, but it's soft underneath the outer shell, which is the two starters.
#Bears third-year defensive end Dominique Robinson had a sack and a ½ in his first NFL game (9/11/22 vs 49ers). He's had only a ½ sack since. He's asked if he's in a now-or-never stage... pic.twitter.com/RSyrcJ9jg5
— Barroom Net | Aldo Gandia (@BarroomNetwork) August 14, 2024
Of course this position is one because everyone seems concerned about their need for a power back who gets a lot of carries, but they already have this. Roschon Johnson has done nothing to indicate he can't play if given the chance. In fact, he's probably going to need to play because they're not planning on the same workloads as last year.
D'Andre Swift had 253 carries and 52 targets while Johnson had just 55 runs and 20 targets for second most. The other three backs had only 25 runs or targets.
The previous season for example, they had a nearly equal number of rushing attempts between Herbert, Johnson and D'Onta Foreman.
Here's #Bears QB Caleb Williams dumping off a pass to RB Kyle Monangai during a drill. #DaBears pic.twitter.com/BX1pHaEP9s
— Josh Buckhalter (@JoshGBuck) May 28, 2025
What's more important is how Ben Johnson ran the offense in Detroit in this regard. They split it between two backs almost evenly and then 47 carries for three other running backs in 2024.
In Year 3, Roschon Johnson has proven he can take up a larger number of carries than his 136 combined runs for the first two seasons.
Adding a veteran can make a difference but it's likely to be a situation where the back added wouldn't get many carries at all because of how much they like Monangai.
Roschon Johnson not only has great athleticism as a runner, but we don’t appreciate his blocking ability enough IMO.
His blocking ability was a HUGE factor when Blasingame was down.
Was worried when we lost Monty’s blocking, put Poles addressed it 🔥 pic.twitter.com/umCcmR3AHA
— Just Another Year Chicago: Bears (@JAYChi_Bears) February 26, 2024
Again, this is not a starting spot. The addition of center Drew Dalman and guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson should greatly improve their line, but the players behind them are less certain. And considering they wound up switching starting offensive lines 30 times in the last three seasons, the chance they're using one or both backup guards at some point this season appears great.
Backup guard Bill Murray has 42 snaps of NFL offense for experience. Ryan Bates has experience with 1,541 plays at guard or center, but only 140 the last two years and only 19 starts before he had two with the Bears last year, a year he spent mostly injured. Doug Kramer has 86 plays of offense. New Bears guard Jordan McFadden actually has 164 plays of experience and center Ricky Stromberg has 26 plays of experience.
Forget RB, the Bears are thinnest at iOL. What happens if Dalman goes down? Ryan Bates? He’s already hurt. Doug Kramer? Move Jonah to Center and use Bill Murray or Newman, who have 35 combined career snaps between them? What if Jonah is already hurt? He’s hurt a lot.
— Jay McCarron (@JayMcCarron) June 7, 2025
Considering the two backup tackles are Kiran Amegadjie and rookie Ozzy Trapilo, the entire backup offensive line is lacking experience. Johnson had to deal with this last year in Detroit but they were fortunate to lose starters on the line for only five games total.
If Poles signed a more experienced tackle/guard swing player, it wouldn't be shocking.
So I deleted the video about Ryan Bates I made 2 years ago... pic.twitter.com/3GyhSP3fxi
— Bearlissimo (@Bearlissimo1) March 5, 2024
This is not a need at all considering the experience level and talent of the first five players. It's just the health of Jaquan Brisker and age of Kevin Byard (32) make the situation less than ideal. Backup Elijah Hicks has 15 career starts, Jonathan Owens 35 and Tarvarius Moore 13. That's plenty of experience for the backups. They simply need good health for starters here.
Two good tackles by Elijah Hicks. This one saved a TD pic.twitter.com/z6S6pBQelO
— Barroom Net | Aldo Gandia (@BarroomNetwork) August 2, 2024
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