### Deep Dive: Chicago Bears roster review
#### 1\. New look interior offensive line
The Bears went into the offseason looking to improve an offensive line that conceded the most sacks in the NFL in 2024 with 68. They traded for three-time Pro Bowler and four-time Super Bowl champion left guard Joe Thuney with 146 career starts with the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs. They also traded for one-time Pro Bowl guard Jonah Jackson (61 career starts) after a season with the Los Angeles Rams and center Drew Dalman in free agency with 40 career starts with the Atlanta Falcons.
"'Smart' is a word that comes to mind, particularly with the interior players," Bears Coach Ben Johnson [said about the trades for the two guards](https://www.chicagobears.com/video/poles-johnson-on-additions-of-jackson-thuney-jarrett). "We love to have some versatility to our scheme, some multiplicity if you will and so we've got a couple guys in the building now that we feel strongly can handle a variety of different concepts and schemes that we might want to employ each and every week."
#### 2\. New offensive scheme under Ben Johnson
The Bears hired Ben Johnson as head coach after several successful seasons as the Lions offensive coordinator. Johnson led the Lions to the NFL's fifth-best scoring offense in 2022 and 2023 before putting together the league's top ranked unit in 2024. Johnson said the Bears offense will look different than in 2024 including putting quarterback Caleb Williams under center. In 2024, the Bears ran 70.8% of their plays out of the shotgun formation, tied for 16th most in the NFL [according to the team website](https://www.chicagobears.com/news/bears-coach-ben-johnson-reveals-offseason-plan-for-qb-caleb-williams). The Lions ran 44% of their plays from shotgun, the lowest percentage in the league.
"There are some things that we're going to encourage that he looks to do a little bit differently," Johnson said. "He's been predominantly a shotgun quarterback for most of his high school and college career, and so he's very comfortable there. We're going to work to see the comfort level under center and how much of that applies. We had a lot of success where I was last, that going under center for the run game did translate in play-action."
#### 3\. Grady Jarrett bolsters defensive interior
The Bears added a familiar foe in free agency in former Falcons defensive lineman Grady Jarrett. The two-time Pro Bowler is heading into his 11th season in the NFL after finishing 2024 with 53 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Jarrett has played in 18 career games against the Saints and recorded 61 tackles and 6.0 sacks, the most sacks against any team he has faced.