Chicago Bears depth appears solid at many positions, with the obvious exception of one place on either side of the line of scrimmage.
The extent to which the Bears need help at those varies greatly and, as such, they might need to sign added help at different times.
Unless GM Ryan Poles has already made up his mind he didn't like what he saw in OTAs, both running back and edge rusher look understaffed in different ways.
Some positions almost can't be analyzed until training camp because there's not enough contact work to assess in offseason.
"Some were able to achieve that over the course of the spring; others we really need pads on to really hammer that home," was how coach Ben Johnson put it.
Can Roschon Johnson pass block? HELL YEAH he can. This kid is earning his stripes. If he keeps this up we could see a new RB1 by mid season.
🐻⬇️ pic.twitter.com/AQrVPSJRiN
— IDF (@IDF162) September 12, 2023
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer noted their needs in his latest mailbag when asked by "@Bears_Dubz" whether they might add help at both running back and edge rusher before the season starts.
"I think that’s all relative to what’s out there," Breer wrote. "So they’ll get a look at D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson at running back, and Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo (who plays some inside on passing downs) on the edges when the pads go on, and then maybe consider guys such as Jamaal Williams at running back or Za’Darius Smith or Matthew Judon as edge rushers."
All three names are nothing new for the Bears when it comes to the free agent market.
Love seeing Jamaal Williams get some touches... it's not garbage time for guys trying to make a name in league. 2 rec 31 yds, 1-yd rush TD pic.twitter.com/ebQGS6n34q
— Dave Noriega (@davenoriega) November 7, 2017
There is a dividing point here between the backs and the edge rushers. The first part of it is what often is the case in an open market like free agency. It's supply and demand. The other dividing point is purpose.
They need help at running back far less than edge because of how they would use an add-on back. As a result, they can afford to wait at this position until camp, and also to see how players handle padded practices.
While we wait for the Brad Allen pool report, here’s the roughing from two weeks ago that he failed to call, costing the Bears a crucial field goal.
Zadarius Smith was later fined for the hit. pic.twitter.com/M7yXLtOpr3
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) December 31, 2023
Poles has said himself he would like to see how backs look when they put on pads. Especially critical here is how they look as pass blockers.
Nothing they did in the offseason affords them an opportunity to see how Kyle Monangai or Ian Wheeler or undrafted player Deion Hankins pick up blitzers in pass blocking situations. When pads go on, they can better understand this. D'Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson and Travis Homer have had enough reps in the past for the new coaches to know what's necessary. The help they need is a third or fourth back.
I can’t believe I have to argue with fans about IAN WHEELER.
The guy was going to get cut!
There’s no way we’re talking about a PRACTICE SQUAD LEVEL player that never ran for over 400 yards at HOWARD UNIVERSITY playing starting level snaps in the NFL. There’s just no way.#Bears pic.twitter.com/HDuF9Gbo67
— Ryan Mathews (@RMathewsNFL) May 8, 2025
“We really want to get this new coaching staff with the players that we have to see if they believe that they can help us, But we’ll always keep our eye on the (free agent) short list to see if we need to bring someone in to create competition and raise the level of talent in that room,” was how Poles put it while speaking on ESPN AM-1000's Kap & J Hood.
They already got the players together with coaches but they didn't get to see yet how they respond to contact or especially pass blockers. This is still to be seen.
The supply of backs who can actually help is much smaller than what they could find in the edge rusher market. Williams is basically it. Other players are either too old, non-fits for the offense or wouldn't help as a pass blocker.
As for the market, there usually isn't a big demand for backs in their 30s and Williams is that age. Even backs who are only in backup roles find this to be the case. The backup running backs must be big in special teams to be active on Sundays and how active are 30-year-old backs in this regard.
Also, Johnson knows Williams already from his time starting in 2022 in Detroit's offense. They can afford to wait into camp to see if they really need to sign Williams.
Very nice pass blocking rep by Jamaal Williams. Nick Bolton is not an easy guy to block as a blitzer pic.twitter.com/caqBKjUNsr
— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) August 14, 2023
Unless pass blocking at camp tells running backs coach Eric Bieniemy his backs can't be depended upon in games at all, the added back would most likely need to be someone who just takes up reps in camp.
A heavy load back who splits time with Swift isn't what they're going to get from a backfield player who shows up in training camp after everyone has worked all offseason. They're looking for someone who might be insurance in case backup Roschon Johnson has an injury in camp.
As a result, they could even wait until the end of preseason and roster cuts to find someone appealing who is younger and would work as an insurance policy.
Kyle Monangai in ‘24
-Rushing Yards: 1,279
-Yards Per Rush: 5.0
-Rushing TDs: 13
-Pancakes: Served
True all around back. Can’t believe we got him in the 7th. 🔥pic.twitter.com/dtJ9cmfxQ6
— Just Another Year Chicago: Bears (@JAYChi_Bears) April 29, 2025
The need to see contact in camp here is also important but Poles has to know they need to add at least one player just for the sake of depth.
Last year they used Darrell Taylor for 375 reps, Jake Martin for 222, Austin Booker for 283 and Dominique Robinson for 84, in addition to lining up defensive tackle Gervon Dexter over tackle or outside it 144 times, according to Pro Football Focus. That's a lot of reps for edges besides what starters Sweat and DeMarcus Walker had.
Even if Booker and Robinson have improved, the need exsists for edge help anyway simply to take up reps. If those two have stepped up, then there is a real need to have someone else, anyway.
Ben Johnson named 4 players who impressed him the most in mini camp:
DE Dominique Robinson
LB Ruben Hyppolite
TE Joel Wilson
RB Kyle Monangai pic.twitter.com/QrXKiRUE1e
— Dave (@dave_bfr) June 5, 2025
It's not like at running back, where there almost would need to be an injury for the added player to have a role.
So acting on either Smith or Judon as an addition would make sense before camp starts.
Smith seems like less of a realistic option. He just said at the June 9 BET Awards that he's still hopeful of rejoining Detroit.
Za’Darius Smith WANTS to be a Detroit Lion… WHAT is taking so long? #OnePride pic.twitter.com/jI78HDGAkj
— Lions Nation Unite™ (@LionsNationU) June 24, 2025
The Bears are not outbidding Detroit for help when the Lions have $40 million in cap space left. The Bears have $14.7 million left.
The Bears have a wider variety of edge rushers to choose from still than they do a running back, and a more specific and dire need for the help, whether it comes from Judon, Smith, Clowney, Von Miller, Preston Smith, Carl Lawson or even former Saints edge Tanoh Kpassagnon
As a result, they'd be better off not waiting until training camp to bring in the edge help.
It's obvious from this clip that nobody on the team actually liked Jamaal Williams.
You can see him wait for the cameras to find him before this corny speech.
To this day some #Lions fans eat this up. The worst thing MCDC ever did was gift this guy the rushing TD record. pic.twitter.com/cEpsuel6UF
— Dr. Jamie Jakes (@jamjks) June 3, 2025
X: BearsOnSI