25-08-2026, 03:10 AM
The 2025 Bears What went right and what didn'tExpectations were higher for the 2025 Bears, and they didn't disappoint en route to an record, an NFC North division title, and a playoff win over the rival hiring of Ben Johnson from division rival Detroit provided an instant jolt of energy, especially juxtaposed against their milquetoast previous head coaches in Matt Eberflus and Matt most important question that needed answering was whether 2024 number one overall pick Caleb Williams would be a fit in Johnson's highflying just one year, it was too soon for Williams to be talked about as a bust, but strong rookie seasons from Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye had some Bears fans wondering if they had taken the wrong , backed by an exciting lineup of playmakers at the skill positions, answered all the questions, throwing for nearly 4000 yards while also placing in the top 10 in the NFL in passing TDs with 27, making people forget about Daniels as he suffered through an injuryriddled season in an inconsistent was set up by the moves the Bears made in the 2025 offseason aimed at bolstering the offensive line, trading for both Jonah Jackson from LAR and Joe Thuney from would go on to win the inaugural Protector of the Year award for offensive lineman.D'Andre Swift rebounded from a disappointing first season with Chicago to break 1, 000 yards rushing and established a career high in Moore emerged as the de facto WR1, and the team got strong contributions from secondyear man Rome Odunze early in the year and upstart rookie Luther Burden III in the second half, with Olamide Zaccheus chipping in with some clutch plays as end also looks to be in great shape, with longesttenured Bear Cole Kmet coming back and Colston Loveland looking to build on his highly successful rookie season where he was ranked as PFF's highest graded rookie and number two tight end Chicago team also developed a knack for pulling off improbable victories under incredibly difficult conditions, earning the nickname the ardiac Bears with a number of comebacks and lastsecond wins, often spearheaded by Williams' fearlessness coupled with some genuinely insane team was expected to improve, but the ability to consistently win these types of games placed the Bears well ahead of , the reason they were in these types of games so often was because the other side of the ball featured one of the worst defenses in Bears ranked 29th in total defense in DC Dennis Allen's first year, allowing 361.8 yards per game with only 35 sacks and 29th in passrush tried to address this prior to the 2025 season, signing edge Dayo Odeyingbo to a 3 year, $million deal after recording 1sacks in the previous 3 seasons with the did not come close to living up to his contract, with just 1 sack in 8 games before tearing his Achilles in week now looks like an overpay whose availability is uncertain moving replacement in the lineup, Dominique Robinson, only posted 1.5 sacks, allowing opposing offenses to focus on stopping the Bears' one legitimate pass rusher in Montez Sweat, who still put up 10.5 run defense wasn't much better, allowing 134.5 rushing yards per game, one of the worst marks in the had numerous issues getting off the field on third , the defensive line has to be a focus of this since the Bears excelled at forcing turnovers, masking many of their defensive coachpassing game coordinator and Eagles legend Al Harris looks to be a future defensive coordinator who helped lead the Bears to an NFLbest 33 turnovers and +21 turnover summaryThe trade of WR DJ Moore to Buffalo in the highest profile move of the Bears' offseason, unloading their leading receiver along with a 5th round pick for a 2022nd trade is probably more notable from the Bills' perspective as they try to find Josh Allen that elusive WR1 that he's never the impact will be felt in Chicago was inconsistent and sometimes invisible in long stretches of , while looking extremely promising especially if he evolves into the ARSB role in Johnson's offense, is only in his second returned to the Falcons via free if the young receivers, and Loveland by extension, take steps up, there is still the need for some veteran depth in the room, which may be why the Bears signed Lions receiver and return man Khalif secondary, which had been the strength of the defense, took some hits with both veteran Kevin Byard and 2022 2nd round pick Jaquan Brisker exiting via free Tremaine Edmunds was released in a salary cap move after spending 3 years with Bears and leading the team in tackles in 2025 despite missing 4 Drew Dalman was a surprise retirement at age 27, leaving a big hole on an emerging Roschon Johnson was jettisoned after an impressive rookie season from Kyle Bears reacted to fill some of these holes left with signings and trades of their safety, GM Ryan Poles brought in super bowl champion Coby Bryant from the Seahawks to a 3year, $40 million Bush left Cleveland to sign a 3year deal and will step into Edmunds' role at Bears also quickly pivoted after Dalman's retirement to trade for Garret Bradbury from New England, a player they should know quite well from his years in they signed DT Neville Gallimore to a 2year, $12 million contract to replace the departing and ineffective Andrew joins a DT room that features improving 4th year player Gervon Dexter sacks in 2025 and the returning Grady Bears were also involved in Maxx Crosby trade talks and at one point were the Vegas favorites to land , it's worth mentioning that the Bears promoted Press Taylor from passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator following the departure of Johnson's righthand man, Declan Taylor's history and the drag he has placed on his head coaches, this situation bears monitoring, even with a coach as gifted as of need going into the draftGoing into the draft, the focus should be on defense based on the 2025 performance and the way the offseason has unfolded thus particular, edge rusher and defensive tackle are both positions of extreme big free agent DE from last year, Odeyingbo, does not look like the answer, and they've also cycled through a number of DT prospects in recent years without is also still a position of need, even with the signing of Bryant, who is expected to be more of a chess piece than a enterfield tackle could also be a position they look at here, since LT Ozzy Trapillo is expected to miss most of the 202season with a ruptured patella tendon suffered in the playoff win over Green the board falls that way, it would not be surprising to see a tackle as the pick, even with impressive 4th year RT Darnell Wright earning 2nd team AllPro honors in their WR depth is thinner with the departures of Moore and Zaccheus, it seems unlikely they would use a firstround pick to address this if they believe strongly in Odunze and Loveland expected to get an uptick in targets, they can address on days 2 and 3 of the draft or with a veteran later in free Poles first round draft historyPoles became GM of the Bears in 2022 and did not have a firstround pick that the subsequent drafts, he used four top 10 picks to go all in on offense, starting with Wright in 2023 as a foundational OT famously trading down with the Eagles in the deal that landed Jalen Carter, followed by WIlliams as the top overall pick in 2024, Odunze at pick 9 in 2025, and Loveland at 10 last year also drafting Burden at pick short, he's stocked the offense, but perhaps at the expense of the particular note, Poles has never drafted an edge rusher earlier than round pass rusher he's taken has been a Day 3 flier who has not panned pattern feels like it will change this year given the needs on the line and the history of using firstround picks on offensive pick and others who should be consideredThe way the board has fallen so far, any of the OT prospects the Bears might have considered have been picked already, capped off by 3 straight tackle picks from that makes the decision easierbut not are a number of defensive prospects here, and the toughest call the Bears would have to make given this board would be whether to go for defensive line or safety, a veritable winwin given the needs of the are some of the prospects they should be considering at 25:Emmanuel McNeilWarren, S, Toledo: DL is regarded as one of the deeper units in this draft, so perhaps the Bears could go for a safety in round one and try to address the line in the following would be consistent with Poles' draft record, but again, that strategy has proved that scenario, the Bears would be selecting Toledo S Emmanuel McNeilWarren at pick 25, a tonesetting box enforcer who would immediately replace the physicality lost with the departures of Byard and Brisker, and who has been mocked to the Bears in a number of recent drafts, highlighting his fit with the may even be slightly underrated since he played his college ball at Toledo, but the Bears would have to look no further than Quinyon Mitchell's success with the Eagles to quell any doubts about college , the signing of Bryant makes safety a lower priority than the line, where they still have no one opposite Montez on McNeilWarren, albeit painful, allows the Bears to put all their focus on the Dline where they will have their choice between some of the higher rated DTs and edge rushers in this 's less of a question of fit with McNeilWarren as it is Woods, DT, Clemson: Woods had an upanddown 2025 and hopes that teams will look more at his 2024 was pegged as a possible top 5 pick before the season but only showed flashes of that would fill a real hole, but interior defensive tackle is less schemecritical than edge in Dennis Allen's multiple front defense, which leans on its ends to set the edge and generate first and second down is a position where Day 2 value is more readily available than , Dexter has developed nicely and is eligible for an extension, which may lessen the need thereAkheem Mesidor, EDGE, Michigan: Mesidor is another name that comes up frequently with teams looking for edge 's Lance Zierlein called him the ost skilled rusher in the why would the Bears pass on him here? First is his a 6th year senior, Mesidor will be 25 at the start of the Bears have consistently drafted young players with high ceilings under Poles, so Mesidor would not fit that there is the question of 's multiple front uses true 4down defensive ends who can hold the edge in the run game before collapsing the is more of a wide9 specialist who thrives in obvious passing would not be an everydown player in this scheme, and certainly not the edge setter the Bears sorely lack on early that in mind, the Chicago Bears, with the 25th pick in the 202NFL Draft, select Zion Young, EDGE, Zion YoungZion Young came onto the national scene last year with Missouri, after spending his first two years at Michigan saw limited playing time there over two seasons, starting just of 20 games and recording a modest 47 tackles and 2.5 was perhaps more infamous for being a part of the postgame tunnel confrontation with rival Michigan in 2022 when he was one of 8 Spartans to be charged with transferred to Missouri after the 2023 season, and the next year, he started 13 games, compiling 42 tackles, 5.5 TFL, and 2.5 sacks while chipping in three pass had a memorable fumble recovery against Oklahoma to give the Tigers the win late in the 2025 senior season was where everything dominated as Missouri's starting end in defensive coordinator Corey Batoon's fourman front, earning Second Team AllSEC honors and finishing with 9 sacks, 4th in the SEC and 19th added 9.5 TFL, two forced fumbles, and an entered the fall relatively unheralded and left it as a consensus firstround followed that up with a strong performance at the Senior Bowl and had a top30 visit with the Bears, among other Young fits the BearsLet's look at Young's profile on :Young's tape at Missouri tells the story of a player whose impact on the game goes well beyond what the box score sack numbers spiked in 2025, sure, but what jumps off the film is the constant, grinding pressure he puts on quarterbacks and the tone he sets against the 96% run defense grade from PFF is not a is legitimately one of the best edge setters in this entire draft class https://www.detroitfootballshop.com/coll...ide-jersey, and any defensive coordinator who values winning on early downs before worrying about thirdandlong will see a player who fits right into their ideal landing spot is a 43 defense where he can operate as a strongside end, pinning his ears back on obvious passing situations while being trusted to hold the point of attack on running length and hand technique allow him to win at the line of scrimmage without needing to be the fastest player off the ball, and his versatility to bump inside on sub packages or stand up in oddfront looks adds real value to a defense looking to create multiplicity up 's not a onetrick speed rusher, and that's actually what makes him 's defensive scheme on first and second down asks its edges to set the edge hard, force ball carriers back inside, and keep linebackers clean, a runfirst is Young's strongest attribute right described Young similarly in their player profile, calling him one of the best run defenders in the class, with a growing pass rush Cosell reviewed Young and was immediately struck by Young's physical element as a ery, very long athlete, describing his game as uilt on power and physicality, block deconstruction in the run game, speed to power as a pass also praised Young's versatility, noting he lined up rom zero technique all the way outside to wide nine and a player who ou can do a lot of things with, a rare trait for a rookie that will work well with the Bears' multifront Sweat could stand to be the biggest beneficiary of adding Young to the is an elite, flexible speed rusher while Young is a powerfirst presence who wins with length, hands, and are complementary styles, not redundant coordinators will not be able to slide their protection one way to help against both 's speed rush forces the tackle to widen, which opens the Bgap for Young's bull rush, and vice Eagles employ a similar dynamic with Nolan Smith and Jalen Carter, and the Rams with Byron Young and Jared Young needs to improveMost of the criticism around Young centers on two areas: athleticism and pass rush far as athleticism goes, the core issue is bend, not 's 6'6 frame and long arms are assets in most situations, but taller edge rushers struggle to dip their hips and flatten around the corner against NFL can play upright at the point of attack more than you'd like, which reduces his leverage and limits his ability to turn the corner purely on Combine testing confirmed he's a good but not elite athlete functional enough to win with technique and power, but not someone who will simply run past blockers at the NFL level.
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