Windy City Gridiron
In this 13-part series, we’ll take an in-depth look at each position group for the Chicago Bears with an eye toward the 2025 season. We’ll speculate on who stays, who goes, and some potential additions we’d like to see general manager Ryan Poles make.
Last offseason, there were a lot of positive vibes around the Chicago Bears. Drafting Caleb Williams energized the fanbase, the offense — and head coach — received a makeover, Hard Knocks created a buzz, and they had three wideouts talking about a race to a thousand yards receiving. But the offense started slow, stalled out after the bye, and then limped to the finish line. The race to a thousand never picked up any stream, and none hit the mark.
Enter new head coach Ben Johnson, who brings his play-calling expertise to the Bears after a highly productive time with the Detroit Lions, where he saw their numbers increase each year as offensive coordinator. Johnson will design his new offense around Williams and the talent, but in 2024, Johnson’s Detroit offense had two wide receivers go over a thousand yards.
A race to a thousand may actually materialize with the Bears’ wideouts in 2025.
Here’s how Chicago’s receiver room shapes up.
DJ Moore - Signed through 2029 - Moore had a down season... while catching a career-high 98 passes. However, he only had 966 receiving yards for a career-low 9.9 yards per reception. Moore should be more productive in the new offense because Johnson knows how to scheme touches for his playmakers, and DJ had the sixth most yards after catch in 2024.
Keenan Allen - Free agent - The six-time Pro Bowler didn’t have the type of impact the Bears were hoping for when they sent a fourth-round pick to the Chargers for him. Allen said the door is open for a return to the Bears, but if that happens, he’ll be the WR3 and make substantially less than last year’s $20M. I am curious how his plantar fasciitis may have affected his season prep because he missed weeks two and three and was more productive in the second half of the year.
At this stage in his career, I would assume Allen is looking for the best chance to win a ring.
Rome Odunze - Signed through 2027* - There were high expectations on the ninth over draft pick, but as the WR3 behind Moore and Allen, the odds of him cracking a thousand yards were always slim. Of all the 2024 rookie wideouts who surpassed Odunze’s 54 receptions, each was their team's respective number-one receiver. Odeunze has a WR1 skill set, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Odunze ends up as the most targeted receiver for the Bears this season.
Between Rome and DJ, Johnson will be able to move them around the offense to get the matchups that benefit the Bears.
Tyler Scott - Signed through 2026 - With Allen and Odunze added...
