Windy City Gridiron
For the 17th straight year, we’re bringing you who we believe will be the ten most important Chicago Bears for the upcoming season, and at number 4 is Chicago’s Pro Bowl corner.
I’m going back-to-back defensive backs on my 10 Most Important Chicago Bears list with the longest tenured Bear checking in at number four, Jaylon Johnson. With consecutive Pro Bowls and a Second Team All-Pro nod in 2023, Johnson is Chicago’s best defender, and he’ll need to keep that going as he enters his sixth season.
Johnson was drafted for Chuck Pagano’s scheme in 2020, which ran more man-to-man than we’ve seen the last few years in Chicago, and we’ll likely see more of that under defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. Johnson is excited for the chance to shadow opposing teams’ number one wideouts, something Allen has alredy told him he’d do.
Here’s a quote from Johnson in April via BearsWire:
“No. 1 on No. 1...that’s what I train for...dogs eat (up front) and we’ll cover on the back end,” Johnson said. “...(Playing man coverage) is what I feel like I’m the best at.”
According to Pro Football Focus, the Bears were the only team in the league with two corners with top-15 coverage grades in 2024: Johnson and number five on my Most Important Bears list, nickelback Kyler Gordon.
Speaking of PFF, they have Johnson ranked as the number one corner in the NFC for he 2025 season, and the fourth overall.
After an incredible 2023 campaign in which he led the NFL in PFF coverage grade (90.4), Johnson posted a 74.2 PFF coverage grade and allowed more yards and catches in 2024. But his advanced metrics still pointed to an elite-level season, as he ranked third in PFF advanced coverage grade.
The 26-year-old Johnson, who will be playing for his fifth defensive coordinator, seems to be embracing his veteran status on the team, because for the first time since joining the Bears, he had some offseason workout sessions with his teammates.
His brother Johnny, who is a fitness trainer, put them through the on-field drills.
Last season, Johnson’s locker room explosion directed at head coach Matt Eberflus provided a spark that pushed the franchise to make a change. He was tired of the lax attitude and lack of accountability from his coach, but more importantly, he was sick of Eberflus’ .304 winning percentage.
“It was just based around frustrations of losing,” Johnson said via 670 The Score on December 2. “That’s what triggered it. Just some certain things and seeing the way things had went these last few weeks. From the outside looking in, you can say it’s the last few weeks. For me, it’s the last five years of my damn career.”
So, besides Jaylon being excited by the new scheme he’ll be playing in, he’s excited by the new regime and the professionalism they’ve brought to Halas Hall.
“I don’t feel like it’s going to be a staff where we can try to blame...
