Windy City Gridiron
We’ve been hurt before, but right now, how good do you think the Bears will be?
As Ben Johnson works on assembling his coaching staff, it’s time for us, as content creators to start looking ahead to the 2025 season. The 2024 season was one to forget, and spending hours assessing what went wrong at this point won’t serve the audience (or our mental health) much good.
Of course, it’s way too early to know exactly what the 2025 Chicago Bears are going to look like, who will they sign in free agency? What will they do with their 3 top 41 draft picks? Plenty can impact just how good this team is, but the QB is in place, the coach is in place and the core of the team isn’t going to change over the next 6 months.
We can look at the Bears’ current roster construction and know that certain things won’t change too much. Sure, we don’t know what will happen with Keenan Allen, but we know DJ Moore, Rome Odunze and Cole Kmet will be here to catch passes from Caleb Williams. The Bears could add a running back, but they aren’t adding Saquon Barkley. Their secondary is largely set. The same can be said with their linebackers.
I think it’s a safe assumption that Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson will spend the bulk of the offseason focused on the trenches on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball and beef that up. Will they sign Trey Smith? Will they draft an offensive lineman at 10? We don’t know what the plan will be, but we know they will do it.
With the expectation that most of the team remains the same and that the Bears will improve the offensive line and add some much-needed depth to the defensive line, with Ben Johnson (and almost certainly Dennis Allen) leading the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, just how good can the Bears be in 2025?
My answer: 9-8. I want to say 11-6 or 12-5, but I’m going to go with a slightly less conservative answer here. Remember that this team went 5-12 in 2024, so giving them a 9-8 record is still a +4 in improvement. Why isn’t it more? I need to better understand exactly how talented this roster is.
Yes, the Bears need better help from the trenches, but when I look at the 2024 roster, what players developed beyond your expectations? What players surprised you with their level of play? You could argue the answer is none, but if we are being fair, there are two or three players that fit that bill. But that’s the problem, it’s only a few.
How much of the issues were coaching in 2024 and how much were players that were reaching their ceilings? I don’t think many of us think Matt Eberflus was a...
