Updated Feb. 15, 2026, 11:23 a.m. CT
The Chicago Bears finished the 2025 season with an 11-6 record, winning the NFC North and their first playoff game in 15 years.Quarterback Caleb Williams showed impressive growth in his second year, while the offense established the third-best rushing attack in the NFL.While the offense saw significant improvement, the defense struggled with injuries and inconsistent play, particularly in the pass rush and secondary.The team’s focus in the offseason is expected to be on overhauling the defense to complement its top-five offense.
The Chicago Bears had a magical 2025 season under first-year head coach Ben Johnson, where they went from worst to first with an 11-6 record, NFC North title and the franchise’s first playoff win in 15 years. And there’s no denying that the future is bright.
While the Bears exceeded expectations in their first year under Johnson, there’s still plenty of work to be done with this roster, most notably on defense. After overhauling the offense in the trenches and at skill positions, the focus shifts to the defense where the hope is general manager Ryan Poles does the same to round out this unit under defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and form a complete team with a top-five offense.
Here at Bears Wire, we went position by position through the Bears roster and graded every player for the 2025 season.
See our roundup here:
Quarterback
The quarterback position starts and ends with Caleb Williams, considering he didn’t miss a game for a second straight season, so this is an overall easy group to evaluate. Williams showed impressive growth between his rookie season and sophomore campaign, where Ben Johnson, offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett and quarterback Case Keenum all played key roles in his development. Williams made impressive plays down the field — both with his arm and legs — and earned the moniker of “Iceman” for his clutch ability with the game on the line all while continuing to make NFL and franchise history. Meanwhile, Tyson Bagent and Keenum proved to be solid contributors in that quarterback rook despite not seeing the field in any significant way. Having a solid backup like Bagent and a coach-like veteran like Keenum pay dividends for Williams, as well.
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The running back position was a major concern heading into the 2025 season, and the Bears didn’t make any drastic moves to completely overhaul it as expected. Instead, the front office and coaching staff got together to rebuild the offensive line, find a complementary back to D’Andre Swift, and all of that resulted in the Bears having the third-best rushing attack in the NFL, averaging 144.5 yards per game on the ground. The running game also helped in the development of quarterback Caleb Williams in his second season, and while Swift may not be the elite superstar that many might desire, he’s more than a good fit in Ben Johnson’s offense. Kyle Monangai isn’t just a success story as a seventh-round pick, he’s an incredible talent and has formed one of the better running back duos in the NFL for Chicago.
Wide receiver
On paper, the Bears’ wide receivers looked like one of the deepest groups in the league. They had a solid mix of veteran experience and youth that could grow together with one of the best receiver coaches in the league. While the group produced three players with more than 650 yards in a balanced attack, they committed too many drops that stalled drives throughout the season. Williams lost 404 yards due to drops by his pass catchers, per NFL Next Gen Stats. And the season ended on a sour note for the group when it looked like both Moore and Odunze were late getting to their spots on the final offensive play of the divisional round game against the Los Angeles Rams. All in all, it’s a talented group that may have a star in the making in Burden. If Odunze can bounce back in 2026, those two will be a solid duo for the foreseeable future.
Tight end
There were high expectations about the tight-end duo of Cole Kmet and rookie Colston Loveland heading into the 2025 season with new head coach Ben Johnson utilizing 12 and 13 personnel, and Durham Smythe even brought something to the table with his blocking ability which allowed Kmet and Loveland to shine. While it took some time, Loveland exploded on the scene as one of Caleb Williams’ top pass catchers and he’s a budding superstar in this offense. With Loveland’s emergence in the passing game, Kmet took a backseat in the passing game and became more of a blocking tight end. Kmet’s dip in production, with just 30 receptions, was certainly a concern, but we’ll see if Chicago sees him as a key part of the offense moving forward. All three tight ends also contributed in run blocking for the league’s third-best rushing attack. But the tight ends group grades out with a B+ mostly for Loveland’s breakout rookie season.
The offensive line for the Bears was a major key to their success in the 2025 season, and the coaching staff should be praised for their work with three new starters on the offensive line and a rookie coming into the mix halfway through the season. Caleb Williams took 68 sacks as a rookie quarterback in 2024, which significantly decreased down to 24 — an NFL best — in his sophomore year. Joe Thuney was the unquestioned leader of the group this year, and they should be projected to only get better as they enter their second year together in the 2026 season. Four spots are locked down for next season with the only concern at left tackle following Ozzy Trapilo’s uncertain future after his injury.
Edge rusher
The Bears put forth more of an effort this offseason to try and upgrade the edge position around Sweat, but their big moves didn’t pay off. Odeyingbo struggled when healthy before he suffered a severe injury, and Turner saw limited action before getting injured himself. Sweat is an upper-echelon player at his position, but he will never be one of the elite pass rushers. Despite him reaching double-digit sacks, the team total decreased by five compared to last year, showing how important it is to find a capable pass rush on the other side. The Bears have been tied to multiple big names at the position early in the offseason, so time will tell whether or not they take a big swing.
Defensive tackle
Chicago’s defensive tackle position needs a big upgrade in terms of their depth behind Gervon Dexter and Grady Jarrett. There’s a possibility that Turner could have a big impact in his second season next year, but this offseason should be focused on upgrading the defensive line unit as a whole, especially the tackle position. Dexter continues to be one of the more underrated players at the position, and bringing in more re-enforcements behind him could help take his game to the next level. But it certainly feels like a good possibility that 25th overall pick will be used along the defensive interior.
The linebackers were not available as often as they should’ve been this season, and the lack of veteran leadership and presence really hurt the position. There will be rumors about what the team will do with this position this offseason, which could include a move away from Tremaine Edmunds, but the reason for their average grade is because of the lack of availability.
Cornerback
The cornerbacks faced an uphill battle before the regular season even began as they were ravaged by injuries to key contributors like Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and Terell Smith. So, all things considered, it wasn’t too bad of a showing considering Chicago had to rely on two unproven commodities in Nahshon Wright (who made the Pro Bowl) and Tyrique Stevenson before Johnson and Gordon returned, albeit hampered by the fact that they weren’t healthy, and that impacted their play. C.J. Gardner-Johnson was a solid addition in the middle of the season after Gordon went down. Overall, the passing defense was a huge weakness and there needs to be improvement. But it could’ve been much worse.
Safety
The best ability is availability, and the Bears safeties aced that test, having played in every single game, including the postseason. That’s an accomplishment on its own. Kevin Byard was very clearly the star of the position group, having led the team in interceptions and anchoring the back seven of the defense. While Jaquan Brisker’s play wasn’t as consistent as originally hoped, he made key plays throughout the year and bounced back from a serious injury. All in all, it was a solid season for this group, but with every player hitting free agency, it’s going to look much different in 2026.
Special teams
Overall, the Bears special teams unit was a solid one, including all three specialists, returners and gunners. Chicago saw significant contributions from special teams in a few of their impressive fourth-quarter comebacks, including Josh Blackwell’s blocked field goal against the Las Vegas Raiders and the onside kick recovery in their Week 16 win over the Green Bay Packers. Cairo Santos continues to be a reliable field goal kicker, inside 50 yards, while Tory Taylor has shown at times he has what it takes to flip the field the way the Bears envisioned when they drafted him in the fourth round two years ago.