News Bears Team Notes

[Chicago Bears]

Bears claim two defenders off waivers

The Bears claimed linebacker D’Marco Jackson and cornerback Jaylon Jones off waivers on Wednesday, per the NFL’s transaction wire. Tom Pelissero was the first to share the full transaction list.

Additionally, none of the players the Bears placed on waivers were claimed by another team. This allows them to retain said players on their practice squad, should they choose to do so.

Jackson, 27, was a fifth-round pick by the Saints out of Appalachian State in 2022. He was named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year in 2021 and has served in a key special teams role for New Orleans prior to his release. He has played in 27 games over the last two seasons, most notably tallying 382 snaps on special teams for the Saints in 2023.

Jones, also 27, is a familiar face for the Bears, having played for the team for three seasons since signing as an undrafted free agent out of Texas A&M in 2022. Between his three years in Chicago, he tallied 85 tackles, four pass deflections, and a forced fumble with five total starts. He signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals back in March, but he was waived as a part of their 53-man roster cutdowns.

As far as former Bears players who were claimed by other teams go, cornerback Reddy Steward got claimed by the Cowboys after he had been waived by the Vikings.

To make room for the two new Bears, the team released veteran long snapper Scott Daly and veteran receiver/returner Devin Duvernay.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/chicago-bears-preseason/97144/chicago-bears-waiver-claims-2025

 

[Chicago Bears]

Bears @ Chiefs: Preseason Week 3 QB Grades

As quickly as the preseason arrived, it has already passed in the blink of an eye, and now we turn to the final week before the regular season. The Chicago Bears closed out their preseason slate with an exciting 29–27 comeback victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, powered by three fourth-quarter touchdown drives led by Tyson Bagent. Both quarterbacks delivered strong performances. Caleb Williams played four drives in the first half, completing 11 of 15 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown, good for a 115.8 passer rating, while also adding 18 rushing yards on two scrambles. Not to be outdone, Bagent finished 20 of 28 for 212 yards and three touchdown passes, all in the fourth quarter, posting an impressive 128.9 passer rating. Let’s get into some breakdowns for the last time before the regular season!

SG = Shotgun	UC = Under Center
T = Turnover Worthy Play	P = Poor Play
B = Bad Play	BA = Below Average Play
A = Average Play	AA = Above Average Play
G = Good Play	Gr = Great Play
E = Elite Play	TA = Throw Away
UG = Ungraded	LOS = Pass behind LOS
S = Short Pass (1-9 Yards)	M = Medium Pass (10-19 Yards)
D = Deep Pass (20+ Yards)	PA = Play Action
TTT = Time To Throw	TTP = Time To Pressure
TTS = Time To Sack

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Caleb Williams​

Anticipation was brimming as Caleb Williams and the Chicago offense got off to a near-flawless start last week against the Bills, but that momentum was quickly stifled against the Chiefs on Friday, beginning with a botched exchange between Williams and Olamide Zaccheaus that immediately put the unit behind the chains.

Now, I’ll be the first to say: the game in its entirety wasn’t as bad as it looked. This wasn’t a great performance by any means. Caleb left some throws on the field, and the sack he took was entirely on him. On that play, in my view, he cycled through his reads too quickly, overlooking a couple of open targets, most notably Cole Kmet, and ultimately took a bad sack.

He did keep his time to throw manageable, at 2.85s, well under his 2024 season average of 3.03s.

On the flip side, though, we also saw plenty of the traits that made him the No. 1 overall pick. On the touchdown drive, Caleb stood tall under pressure and ripped a deep back-shoulder throw to Rome Odunze. He absorbed what could have easily drawn a flaggable hit and still delivered a strike, a throw that Rome should come down with nine times out of ten. Undeterred, Caleb went right back to him on the very next snap, this time dropping a ball in with nice touch on a corner route with outstanding anticipation. The ball traveled 19 air yards, putting it right on the border between a medium and deep-level throw, and it showcased exactly why the Bears are so excited about their 2nd year signal-caller.

Best Play​

We’re going to take a closer look at that 37-yard completion to Rome Odunze on the corner route. The Bears are running a short-China concept at the top of the screen with a flood-In concept to the bottom. The design essentially forces Caleb Williams to choose one side of the field to read, and in this case, he correctly looks to attack the weak side of the defense. If nothing develops, his next option would likely be a checkdown to the running back or trying to extend the play.

The linebacker aligned over Rome has outside leverage, taking himself out of the play and becoming a non-factor. Meanwhile, the deep safety is forced to respect the possibility of a vertical route, which makes this a clean read for Williams. Caleb shows excellent anticipation, he begins his throwing motion while Rome is still pushing vertically at the 30-yard line, and delivers a precise ball to Odunze around the Kansas City 21. From there, Rome does the rest, breaking a tackle and nearly taking it to the end zone. Overall, a great throw that contained touch, medium-level accuracy, and fantastic anticipation.

With a 1.30 total grade for the half, Caleb Williams’ start earns him a lower-end “Good” half grade.

Situation: 2nd Quarter, 2 and 10 KC40 0:43
Play Grade: Great
Result: 37 Yard Completion to Rome Odunze
Notes: (+) Touch, (+) Medium Level Accuracy, (+++) Anticipation pic.twitter.com/OvKLYdsm1Y

— Grim Monangai (@iamcogs) August 27, 2025

Worst Play​

Caleb’s worst throw of the evening came in the red zone on a 3rd-and-5 attempt to Rome Odunze in the end zone. The Bears were running a half-field “Pout” concept (Post + Out) to the top of the screen, a design typically read low-to-high before checking down to the running back. On this play, Colston Loveland gets bullied off his route and fails to create any separation, leaving Williams no real opportunity to throw his way. Caleb then progresses to Rome on the post, but the coverage is tight. If he had thrown with earlier anticipation, Rome might have had a chance, but with bracketed coverage, the correct decision would have been to hit the running back underneath and let him try to convert the first down. (For context, in my grading I don’t dock quarterbacks for throws I think they should make, I only grade the throws they actually attempt.)

Instead, Caleb forces the ball into a bad situation, and Rome is forced to play defender, knocking it away to prevent an interception. The Bears escaped with points, as Cairo Santos came on to kick the field goal, but this was a clear teaching moment for the young quarterback.

Situation: 2nd Quarter, 3rd and 5 KC10 8:54
Play Grade: Poor
Result: Incompletion to Rome Odunze
Notes: (-) Throw into Good Coverage, (–) Dangerous Throw in Redzone, (–) Accuracy pic.twitter.com/yEZbAA7Vkx

— Grim Monangai (@iamcogs) August 27, 2025

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Tyson Bagent​

It’s now official that Tyson Bagent will be a Bear for at least the next three years, after signing a two-year, $10 million extension just two days before the preseason finale. And in that game, Bagent delivered what was arguably the best performance of his young career. Though he started slowly, going just 4-of-8 with a sack on his first two drives, he caught fire in the fourth quarter, finishing 16-of-20 (with one of those incompletions being a spike to stop the clock) while orchestrating three straight touchdown drives to steal a win for Chicago.

His average time to throw came in at 2.95 seconds, slightly inflated by a few extended plays, but still right in line with his 2023 average of 2.91. Nothing out of the ordinary for Bagent’s style.

The game-winning touchdown to Jahdae Walker has understandably drawn plenty of attention. It was a perfectly placed ball thrown with anticipation and poise in the biggest moment of the night. But I’d also highlight another “Great”-level throw, his very first completion, a 23-yard strike to Durham Smythe. That set the tone for what would become an outstanding half of football.

Bagent’s second-half grade came in at 2.90, a high-end “Great” half and the best half I’ve graded in his career. He showed accuracy, anticipation, and composure, winning me over as a believer that he should be locked in as the Bears’ QB2 going forward.

Best Play​

The Bears come out with a deep Levels concept at the top of the screen and a Wolf concept at the bottom. They add a wrinkle with Maurice Alexander, who executes a double move, selling the Out before breaking back with an In. With a single-high safety look, Tyson Bagent makes the correct read, showing both patience and trust in his protection. He delivers the ball with subtle anticipation, hitting Durham Smythe in stride and allowing him to turn up field for additional yards after the catch.

Situation: 3rd Quarter, 2nd and 12 CHI32 13:18
Play Grade: Great
Result: 23 Yard Completion to Durham Smythe
Notes: (+) Anticipation, (+) Accuracy while Hit (++) Deep Level Accuracy pic.twitter.com/LtPUSLJQUs

— Grim Monangai (@iamcogs) August 27, 2025

What makes this throw worth highlighting is the growth it represents. In 2023, this was a route Bagent consistently struggled with. In his start against the Saints, he threw two interceptions on nearly identical concepts (one highlighted below), largely due to a lack of velocity and anticipation. Those shortcomings allowed defenders to recover after the receiver’s break and jump the throw. But here we see the payoff of his work since then: more drive on the ball, earlier anticipation, and the confidence to make the throw. The result is a chunk gain and a first down, exactly the kind of progress the Bears were hoping to see, and a direct indication of why he was worthy of an extension.

Situation: 4Q 3-9 CHI29 5:14
Play Grade: Turnover, Poor

2nd interception of the 2nd half. Paulson Adebo had himself a damn day. 7 tackles, 3 PD's, 2 INT's, 1 FR. And the same issues that showed up in his first interception is here too. Late on the throw, behind his receiver and… pic.twitter.com/veYhsAvXr0

— Grim Monangai (@iamcogs) March 28, 2025

Worst Play​

This play is a good example of Tyson’s internal clock working against him. He held the ball for 6.69 seconds before releasing it, which is an eternity for any quarterback. The Bears were running a classic “Hoss” concept, a staple used by nearly every offense. It’s simple, but highly effective against both man and zone looks. The read is straightforward: if your speed receiver wins vertically, and the safety alignment allows it, you take the deep shot. Otherwise, you work the Hitches underneath for an easy gain.

On this rep, the bottom of the formation is well-covered, and Tyson correctly moves on from it. He comes to Tyler Scott, who unfortunately doesn’t do him many favors, failing to generate separation at the top of his route. The throw is still there to be made, but it needs to be delivered on time and with accuracy. Instead, Tyson hesitates, and that’s where the snowball effect begins. The Hoss concept is designed to hit quickly; if it doesn’t, the play tends to die. Tyson does extend the rep by moving the pocket and buying time, but when he comes back to Scott, he’s clearly rushed in his mechanics. Falling away on the throw, he delivers it wildly off target, giving Scott no chance to make a play. In the future, you would like to see Tyson reset his throwing base and drive a ball towards Scott.

Situation: 3rd Quarter, 2nd and 10 KC29 9:39
Play Grade: Poor
Result: Incompletion to Tyler Scott
Notes: (-) Creates his own Pressure, (—) Short Level Inaccuracy pic.twitter.com/1ISHvNwu4B

— Grim Monangai (@iamcogs) August 27, 2025

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Odds and Ends​

• Moving forward I will be breaking down more variety of plays, generally I cover 1 of each type of play (Poor all the way through Elite if possible) find my Rewind review covering the Week 12 game against the Vikings for a preview of that.
• The Bears’ quarterbacks had an outstanding preseason, combining to complete 82 of 121 passes (67.8%) for 918 yards, 9 touchdowns, and just 1 interception, good for a collective 111.5 passer rating. Perhaps most encouraging of all, they took only 6 sacks, a rate of just 4.7%.
• I will also be grading weekly play from Jordan Love, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, and J. J. McCarthy, you can follow me on Twitter for those if interested, I will also be posting them on my personal website.
• T-minus 13 days to Monday Night Football.

How did you feel about the Quarterback play on Friday? Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments, and Bear Down!​

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/c...-week-3-qb-grades-caleb-williams-tyson-bagent

 

[Chicago Bears]

Chicago Bears 2025 Practice Squad

The Chicago Bears announced their initial 2025 practice squad today, which is likely to change as they tweak their roster for Week 1, so we’ll be updating this with every move.

1. JP Richardson, WR
2. Maurice Alexander, WR
3. Miles Boykin, WR
4. Brittain Brown, RB
5. Stephen Carlson, TE
6. Jordan McFadden, OL
7. Ricky Stromberg, OL
8. Power Echols, LB
9. Mekhi Garner, CB
10. Tre Flowers, CB
11. Jonathan Ford, DT
12. Xavier Carlton, DE
13. Jamree Kromah, DE
14. Tanoh Kpassagnon, DE
15. Luke Elkin, LS

Important rules to remember regarding the 16-man* practice squad​

Up to six players on the practice squad can have more than two accrued years of service in the league, with the remaining spots filled by players with less than two accrued years of service. A seventeenth* player can be added if he is a qualifying international player. To qualify, a player must have their citizenship and principal place of residence outside the United States and Canada, with a maximum of two years of high school experience in the United States.

Teams can elevate up to two practice squad players for each game, but they can still only have 48 players active on game day. After the game, the elevated player(s) will revert to the practice squad. A player can be elevated up to three times, but if he’s needed after that, the team would be required to sign him to the 53-man active roster.

Players on practice squads are essentially free agents who can be signed to another team’s active roster. If a player is signed away, his new team must keep him on its 53-man roster for three weeks, but if he’s released, he’ll revert to his previous team. Players signed to another active roster are also guaranteed three weeks’ salary.

A player’s current club can not prevent him from leaving; they can only make a counteroffer to keep him. Ultimately, it’s the player’s choice where he signs.

A practice squad player can’t sign with his team’s upcoming opponent unless he does so six days before the upcoming game or ten days prior if his team is on its bye week.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/c...9/chicago-bears-2025-nfl-practice-squad-rules

 

[Chicago Bears]

The Bear’s Den, August 28, 2025

WE WANT YOU!

Would you like to show your Chicago Bears spirit to the world? I’m starting a feature where Windy City Gridiron readers can share pictures of themselves and their families and friends in Bears attire. Simply email a picture to me at the following address: denmasterken at aol dot com. The pictures need to be clear, and full resolution (i.e. full size from your phone if that’s how you take them). Include any description information you like along with the photo!

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL


BEARSSSSSS

Unlike his work with Lions’ Jared Goff, Bears coach Ben Johnson starts from ground up with QB Caleb Williams – Chicago Sun-Times

It took time for Goff to click in Johnson’s offense in 2022, and he had several advantages over Williams as a seven-year veteran at the time. It’s a steep climb from Williams’ rookie season to Goff’s level.

Bears safety Jaquan Brisker leaves practice early – Chicago Sun-Times

It was the Bears’ last training camp practice.

The Bears tried to add RBs to push D’Andre Swift — but now he stands alone – Chicago Sun-Times

When players stopped stretching Tuesday and headed off to work with their position groups, D’Andre Swift stood alone. He was the only healthy Bears running back.

Former Bears CB Buster Skrine, on the lam from Canadian police, arrested in Georgia – Chicago Sun-Times

Skrine was arrested Wednesday morning in Roswell, Georgia, and charged with counts of criminal attempt to commit theft, deposit account fraud, identity fraud, financial transaction card fraud and theft by taking,

Chicago Bears: Jaquan Brisker exits practice with apparent injury – Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Bears wrapped up their final practice of training camp Wednesday at Halas Hall. Safety Jaquan Brisker left early with an apparent injury.

Bears claim 2 players on waivers – 670

The Chicago Bears have claimed linebacker D’Marco Jackson and cornerback Jaylon Jones on waivers Wednesday, this a day after rosters formed to the 53-man limit.

Bears’ Johnson: Williams wants to leave a lasting legacy – 670

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson lauded the demeanor of second-year quarterback Caleb Williams, explaining that it’s why he elected to coach him hard in training camp.

Ben Johnson praises Bears’ organizational ‘structure’ – 670

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson praised the structure presented in the organization as part of why he accepted the job and believes in the chance for a fast start to his tenure.

Chicago Bears announce roster moves – ChicagoBears.com

The Chicago Bears on Wednesday claimed two players off waivers, released two others and signed 15 players to the practice squad.

POLISH SAUSAGE

Bears guard talks Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift engagement – Chicago Sun-Times

Thuney smiled when asked if he had any advice for the couple.

2025 NFL Team Salary Cap Tracker – Spotrack.com

A real-time look at the 2025 salary cap totals for each NFL team, including estimated cap space.

Terry McLaurin on concerns about receivers over 30: There are outliers – NBC Sports

During wide receiver Terry McLaurin’s extended push for a new contract this offseason, one of the reasons cited for the Commanders’ possible reluctance to a long-term commitment was his age.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Bears @ Chiefs: Preseason Week 3 QB Grades – Windy City Gridiron

Strong outings from both quarterbacks during the Bears’ preseason finale.

Bears claim two defenders off waivers – Windy City Gridiron

The Bears have added two depth pieces on defense off waivers.

NFL waiver wire explained: Bears players subject to the process – Windy City Gridiron

Which Bears players are subject to waivers in 2025? Waiver wire rules, explained.

Numbers don’t lie: The most successful NFL teams of all time – SB Nation

Is it possible for math to tell us which NFL teams have been the most and least successful over the years?

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Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/c...oster-training-camp-pre-season-practice-squad

 

[Chicago Bears]

Evaluating Offensive Line Prospects—who does it best?

Overview

One of the many things that’s interesting about the NFL Draft is the way draft analysts and experts create elaborate evaluations of players, try to predict what NFL teams will do, and then repeat the entire process the next year with very little accountability or reflection on what happened the prior year. I have previously written about how little similarity there tends to be between draft boards and draft reality. Despite this, there are a few experts touted as “the best in the business” in their fields, and I thought it was worth looking into this claim with respect to one particular grouping of players.

Offensive linemen.

The reason for this focus is threefold. First, I highly value offensive line play and enjoy evaluating the play of offensive linemen myself. Second, it represents a rare balance in the draft where quality offensive linemen are found throughout the draft (unlike wide receivers or edge defenders, for example) but also where there are notable decreases in talent at each level of the draft (unlike safety, for instance). Third, there are notable “evaluators” of offensive line prospects to discuss. Specifically, Brandon Thorn is widely considered one of the best in the business, and people relentlessly cite Pro Football Focus evaluations of offensive linemen as if they are meaningful in some way despite very little independent confirmation of their results.

Methods

In order to perform this evaluation, I needed a pool of players and a way of evaluating their performance. Because Thorn began publicly contributing his offensive line prospect rankings to Bleacher Report in 2021, I pulled the big boards from 2021-2023 using the one that was published closest to the draft itself, normalizing all for relative rank instead of absolute rank (for example, while Teven Jenkins was the 12th-ranked player on Bleacher Report’s overall board, he was Thorn’s third-highest offensive linemen, so he was ranked 3rd). Pro Football Focus needed to be considered, as mentioned, given their visibility in the field. Additionally, Windy City Gridiron’s own Jacob Infante graciously allowed me to evaluate his boards. I have previously found that Daniel Jeremiah’s rankings align with the NFL draft itself better than almost anyone else, so I included him. To provide an overarching frame of reference, I also considered the big boards from the NFL Mock Draft Database’s consensus big boards. Each board went through the same normalizing process as mentioned above.

Note that there is an annual draft guide that many people use which I am not including here except in a limited capacity. I typically try to use public data or information that was willingly shared with me by the creator, but because I know there will be questions I will refer to aspects of this work as well.

Of course, it’s not enough to simply compare these individuals to the draft itself, however, because front offices also make mistakes. As a Bears fan, I’m only too aware of how readily a team can draft a player high just to have him falter. Unfortunately, not only is there a shortage of good stats on offensive linemen, there’s a shortage of mediocre stats as well. As a simple measure, players in this sample were scored out of what percentage of the available games they played in and then also what percentage of the available games they started, receiving a 10% multiplier on this score for each Pro Bowl they earned in this time. Any ties were broke first with number of starts and then with a lower blown block percentage as reported by Sports Info Solutions.

Because 2021 has had four years to work while 2023 has only had two years, this will create some bunchiness in the data, with the numbers from 2021 being a little more “true” that the numbers from 2023. Some people will argue that playing time is a poor surrogate for quality, as teams will simply play highly drafted players regardless of how well they play. However, there is only a moderate correlation (0.53) between draft rank and the weighted performance rank described above.

In order to prevent a single “off” ranking or result from dominating the statistics, all ranks lower than 20th were normed to 20th place. This will tend to make boards seem more accurate than they are. Remember that.

The Draft Itself

The Consensus Board at the Mock Draft Database was, not surprisingly, pretty accurate. It has the second-highest correlation with draft order of any of the boards (0.85). It was slightly ahead of Brandon Thorn’s rankings (a 0.79 correlation) for these three years, and Thorn was functionally at a dead heat with Infante (0.78). All of them crushed Pro Football Focus (0.68), but Daniel Jeremiah was the winner here (0.86).

Remember that analyst with a comprehensive draft guide that is not publicly available? The correlation between that draft guide for 2021 and 2022 and the draft itself ties Jeremiah at 0.86, with an interesting caveat to be discussed later.

To be fair, all of these boards are narrowing things down from thousands of college candidates to just a few hundred evaluees. A few impulsive decisions from GMs can also skew these results. However, at least when it comes to guessing the order offensive linemen might be drafted, the power of the masses is hard to beat for mortals, even if Daniel Jeremiah just barely does it. The only other result that really stands out is how poorly Pro Football Focus does compared to the others.

In simple terms, on average Daniel Jeremiah’s own board rankings came within 1.6 ranks of the order offensive linemen were actually drafted in, and in fact half of Jermiah’s top prospects (i.e. half of his top ten offensive linemen in each class) were taken within a single rank of where he placed them. Meanwhile, Pro Football Focus “misordered” draft picks by 3 full ranks compared to what really happened, and only a third of their top prospects were within a single rank of where they were selected.

Performance

Of course, one answer could be that Pro Football Focus focuses on evaluating the quality of these players and not where they will be drafted. Basically, maybe they’re right and everyone else—including the league front offices—might be wrong. If that were to be true, it might show up in whether or not these players eventually earn playing time or Pro Bowls.

The reality is that everyone struggles here, likely because of the number of variables involved ranging from injury to coaching–to say nothing of the inherent limitations of my own performance ranking system. However, Thorn (0.57) and Jeremiah (0.56) stand out as the best, with a difference between their average ranking and the actual performance ranking of around 3.7 spots per prospect. The draft itself and Jacob Infante are tied (0.53) at around 4 spots off, with the consensus board (0.52) in the same range. That leaves Pro Football Focus (0.48) as the least accurate of the public boards, off by just over 4.2 spots on average.

The wording here is deliberate, because it is not entirely true that Pro Football Focus puts out the least accurate board that I have looked at. For the sample from 2021 and 2022, the large guide I mentioned before has a correlation of only 0.41 with performance–it’s off by 4.6 spots on average. At least as judged by this methodology, its ranks are a worse match to how players perform in the NFL than any of the major boards mentioned by name.

Within the entire pool of 121 prospects, Jeremiah had the most players placed within 5 spots of their eventual performance ranks with 89 (74%), while of the public boards Pro Football Focus had the most true failures with 18 prospects placed more than 10 ranks out of position. Given that only 40 or so offensive linemen are drafted each year, that’s an average of six players per year performing a full quarter of the draft out of position, at least—and that’s with the blunting effect that the methodology creates.

Again, even PFF’s “6-misses-per-year rate” is beaten by the aforementioned analyst, with 13 missed by 11+ ranks in 2021 and 2022 alone. Interestingly, 12 of those 13 are ranked within three relative slots of where they were drafted as opposed to how they performed, and 10 of the 13 are within one rank. So that guide definitely seems to be tightly in line with NFL offices, even to its own detriment.

Finally, if we instead narrow the pool down to how well each board does only when it comes to adequately projecting their top ten candidates in each draft, Jeremiah again takes home the win with 15 of 30 being within five spots. Pro Football Focus is again the worst with 9 prospects placed more than 10 ranks out of position.

Side Discussion

This study provides yet another reason to question the value of Pro Football Focus. They consistently deviate not only from what the draft itself values, but they also seem to value things that do not manifest in measurable performance once players are drafted–except of course in their own evaluations. To me, at least, this is another reason to look at all of their evaluations with even greater skepticism. If other experts view things differently than them and if the NFL itself views things differently than them, then one of the the only things that they seem to having going for them is that they agree with their own opinions.

However, in an effort to be fair to Pro Football Focus, it’s worth considering one more check. I averaged the ranks of Jeremiah and the NFL Draft itself and compared them to PFF’s ranks, noting all scores where PFF was at least 5 ranks off of the composite score and also more than 5 ranks off of both the draft and Jeremiah. These ranks then are the ones where Pro Football Focus most disagreed with the “received wisdom.” This gave me a pool of 20 players, with nine preferred by PFF and 11 preferred by both the draft and Jeremiah. Which group has played better since being drafted?

Pro Football Focus had nine “favorite” players. One was William Sherman, who was drafted in 2021 but has to date only played 6 snaps on special teams. The other eight, however, were in Sports Information Solutions’ databases and had an average blown block rate of 3.3% and an average penalty rate of 0.7%, for an error rate of 4% (median 3.3%). Conversely, eleven of these players were ranked more highly by the mainstream but PFF instead found other players more worthy. They had an average blown block rate of 2.7% and an average penalty rate of 0.6% (with an average error rate of 3.4% because rounding works that way sometimes); the median error rate was 2.9%. In short, when reviewed by a third-party evaluator once they entered the NFL, the prospects uniquely favored by PFF played worse than the players uniquely devalued by them.

Out of the entire pool of 20, of the nine players at or better than a 2.9% error rate (the “Teven Jenkins” level), seven of them were more favored by conventional wisdom than PFF: Creed Humphrey (3-time Pro Bowler), Landon Dickerson(3-time Pro Bowler), Josh Myers, Joe Tippmann, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Cole Strange, and Teven Jenkins. The two relative successes for PFF were Tommy Doyle and Zach Tom. The most notable other player in the pool of 20 is Pro-Bowler Cam Jurgens, who also was ranked more poorly by PFF than by the draft or Jeremiah.

It’s worth asking if their grades are so inaccurate when checked at other times, how valuable can their in-season grades be?

Conclusions

Prior to this study, I would have been inclined to say that I trusted Brandon Thorn’s work evaluating offensive line prospects more than that of any other analyst, and I will no doubt continue to credit to his opinions. However, I am reminded once again that if I were forced to pick a single draft analyst to recommend, it would have to be Daniel Jeremiah. It seems like every time I put together one of these projects, no matter what weight is given to different factors or what I’m looking for, he’s toward the top of any list that uses objective measures.

There is a enough wiggle room in this study to allow adherents of any one board to continue to defend it. Some will no doubt even find a way to defend PFF. However, while the Mock Draft Database, Jacob Infante, and Brandon Thorn all offer reasonable alignment with the draft and with player performance—and while all are seemingly superior to PFF—it’s the man from the NFL Network who continues to show he’s the best.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/n...who-does-it-best-nfl-draft-thorn-jeremiah-pff

 

[Chicago Bears]

Chicago Bears 2025 Season Preview with Aaron Leming

The latest Bears Banter has dropped!

The Chicago Bears season is just over a week away and we are getting you set for what should be an exciting season! As he does every year, Aaron Leming joined Bears Banter for the big season preview. This season, the show was live!

But if you missed it, don’t fret, you can still check out the podcast on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. We did a deep dive on every aspect of the Chicago Bears. We discussed Ben Johnson, Dennis Allen, Caleb Williams, every position group, expectations for the season, and so much more. If you want to get ready for the season, this is the podcast for you.

If you want to watch the podcast, you can do so on the 2nd City Gridiron YouTube page below:


If you want to listen to the podcast, you can do that on the 2nd City Gridiron podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts, or use the player below:

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/c...o-bears-2025-season-preview-with-aaron-leming

 

[Chicago Bears]

Fantasy Focus Part 2: Top 10 Bears

With the fantasy season upon us, draft preps ramping up, and most fantasy drafts underway or will be soon, self-proclaimed “Fantasy Head” Bryan Orenchuk and WCG’s official Fantasy Guru Jack R Solo touch on the top ten Chicago Bears for this upcoming fantasy season. Next up, we have numbers 6, 5, and 4. It is unlikely any new names will be added after the final roster cuts to alter these rankings, so these should hold true. Jack and Bryan have included the rankings from ESPN, Fantasy Pros, Yahoo!, and NFL.com for your reference and have averaged their own rankings to construct this list. Enjoy.

4. Colston Loveland (ESPN – 12, Fantasy Pros – TE15, Yahoo! – TE14, NFL.com – 10)

What they love:

Bryan Orenchuk: Ben Johnson. Aside from deploying the second most 21 personnel (two-tight end formations) across the league last season, Ben Johnson is a creative play caller who schemes his players open. Even rookies. See LaPorta, Sam.

Jack R Salo: Volume. With DJ Moore and Rome Odunze commanding attention from defensive secondaries, it shouldn’t take long for Loveland to adjust to the NFL and find open spots on the field. Loveland should be targeted downfield as much as any other tight end in the league save for the very best, so the main question is whether Caleb Williams can take a step forward and get the ball out on time.

What they like:

Bryan Orenchuk: I like how Loveland is entering an offense with playmakers at every level, including a solid QB, which he did not have during his final season at Michigan. For a top ten pick, Loveland should have more single coverage looks than most.

Jack R Salo: I expect Loveland will have plays where he generates good separation against the matchup. At 6’6”, 240, he’s big enough to go get a baller against a smaller corner. He’s also fast enough to burn a linebacker a few times per game. This is no exaggeration; Loveland could have stretches that completely change a fantasy football matchup. For a tight end, that’s huge.

What they worry about:

Bryan Orenchuk: From a fantasy perspective, I worry about Cole Kmet’s involvement most, but having so many mouths to feed in this offense is a real concern as well.

Jack R Salo: Obviously, Cole Kmet is the established starter at tight end for the Bears, and the one who should see more snaps in single tight end formations. There’s no reason to think Loveland and Kmet won’t see the field together regularly, but Loveland’s touchdowns could be lacking this year as Kmet and others are trusted more in the redzone. Also, if the entire offense comes out flat again this year, that’s another worry for any player with “GSH” on their shoulder. Sure, there’s plenty of optimism about the Bears’ offense, but nothing is real until these games count.

Draftable?:

Bryan Orenchuk: Absolutely. I like him better in Dynasty formats than Re-Draft, but Loveland is one injury away from being a TE1 in fantasy and has day 1 appeal in deeper leagues.

Jack R Salo: As a low-end fantasy starter, or a solid bench spot. There’s a risk in spending a high draft pick on any tight end not named Brock Bowers this year, but when the other players in the draft start their run on tight ends, Loveland should still be there the next round.

5. Luther Burden III (ESPN – NR – 50, Fantasy Pros – WR57, Yahoo! – WR61, NFL.com – WR53)

What they love:

Bryan Orenchuk: Clearly his athleticism and YAC ability jump off the screen on tape, but what I love most is how he has seemed to buy-in to Ben Johnson and this offense. When you take a player as talented as Burden III and combine that talent with a grit and work ethic to be great, expect fireworks.

Jack R Salo: He was a do-it-all receiver at Mizzou, at that included plenty of looks out of the backfield. While the Tigers’ blocking wasn’t always what they hoped it would be to free him open for green grass, this is still what modern NFL offenses are using more and more today. Screens, jet sweeps, and trick plays could free up Burden for some huge plays.

What they like:

Bryan Orenchuk: I like how he can start his career fresh without shouldering too much pressure. Let him learn how to be a pro and be ready to prove something when his name is called, and I expect big plays early in the season when he gets a chance.

Jack R Salo: He’s faaaaaaast. It takes more than just speed to be a stellar NFL receiver, but he’s got something you just can’t teach. We likely won’t have a clear picture of his role on this offense until a few weeks into the season, but once he fully unseats Zaccheaus as WR3 for the Bears, he should see 5+ targets per game and opportunities for massive gains.

What they worry about:

Bryan Orenchuk: Similar to the rookie ahead of him on this list, I worry about his target share in this offense. For fantasy purposes, that could be extremely frustrating. When you factor in how strong of an off-season Olamide Zaccheaus has had, Burden may not start a game all season, barring injury.

Jack R Salo: Will his skills translate to the NFL level right away? We know he’s a guy who can turn 5 yards into 50. We know he can catch it in stride and turn on the jets. We know he can catch it over his shoulder in the endzone. NFL receivers are asked to do so many things, though; back shoulder catches, jump balls, toe-tappers. It’s good to see he bought-in to the “no block, no rock” mentality of this offense. Also, every unsportsmanlike conduct penalty puts you further away from a starting role.

Draftable?:

Bryan Orenchuk: Absolutely. Players with his skillset deserve to be drafted. Be it injury to a teammate or his ascension throughout the season, he could also see significant play time.

Jack R Salo: He’s a great stash on the bench once your starting lineup is full. I doubt he’ll be crushing it early, so he’s an option to put in when a receiver has a bye, or if a Bears receiver gets hurt. Burden should be available deep in drafts, when everything becomes a bit of a crapshoot, so there’s no harm in rounding out your bench with a guy who should develop into a better fantasy prospect as the year goes along.

4. D’Andre Swift (ESPN – RB20, Fantasy Pros – RB22, Yahoo! – RB24, NFL.com – RB16)

What they love:

Bryan Orenchuk: I love that Swift is the most dynamic and experienced back for the Bears. Oh, and he also happens to be the only healthy one. But most of all, I love how he will be running behind a newly reinforced offensive line and that Ben Johnson is calling plays.

Jack R Salo: Receptions out of the backfield remain D’Andre Swift’s largest draw. Averaging 47 receptions over five seasons, with three different teams makes him a great RB2 in fantasy. The Bears will need a strong rushing attack to run Ben Johnson’s offense, and Swift is comfortably in the leading running back spot. He’ll see plenty of action when healthy, and his ability to catch passes will make him good for the Bears and good for fantasy football managers.

What they like:

Bryan Orenchuk: I like that the playbook will be more catered to Swift’s skillset, at least when Swift is the designed ball carrier. He averaged a career high 5.5 ypc in 2022 with Ben Johnson. Let’s see what he can do with even more volume.

Jack R Salo: I like a second year with Caleb Williams and D’Andre Swift on the same team. Swift was brought in to bring experience to a backfield where the quarterback was a rookie, and the results across the board were rough on offense. I like the idea of Caleb and D’Andre building more chemistry getting the ball out on plays where nobody else is open downfield. Until we see it happen in the regular season, it will only be projection, but Swift as a dump-off option could mirror Kenneth Walker III in fantasy football.

What they worry about:

Bryan Orenchuk: At this point, the biggest concern for me is his health. That said, he could certainly see his share of goal line carries vulture but with the amount of targets and carries he should accumulate, Swift should have a swell season.

Jack R Salo: The Bears continue to make moves to find a rushing attack that doesn’t feature D’Andre Swift. When Swift signed with the Bears on a 3 year, $24 million contract, it was pretty clear he would be there for that contract and not much longer. His guaranteed money is up after this year, and they have all the pieces in place (RoJo, Monangai), to move on from him after this year. If Monangai is forced into action and excels, will Swift earn his job back?

Draftable?:

Bryan Orenchuk: Absolutely. And he is a steal at the moment. Go get the Bears RB1 in the 6th-8th round and plug him into a flex spot weekly.

Jack R Salo: I can think of at least 15 running backs I would take before him, but sure Swift remains a RB2 option in all leagues. If you draft running backs high, he’s a great flex play, and otherwise he’s a fine RB2 option as long as he’s fully healthy.

---

How do you feel about these players? Which rookie do you think will be the best fantasy football asset?

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/c...icago-bears-6-4-colston-loveland-swift-burden

 

[Chicago Bears]

Updated: 2025 Chicago Bears 53-Man Roster

On Thursday, August 28, the Chicago Bears re-signed long snapper Scott Daly and wideout/returner Devin Duvernay, while placing defensive end Austin Booker on injured reserve and waiving linebacker Carl Jones Jr.

Offense (25)​

Quarterback (3): Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent, Case Keenum

Running back (3): D’Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai (R), Roschon Johnson

Tight end (3): Cole Kmet, Colston Loveland, Durham Smythe

Wide receiver (6): DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III (R), Olamide Zaccheaus, Jahdae Walker. Devin Duvernay

Offensive line (10): Darnell Wright, Jonah Jackson, Drew Dalman, Joe Thuney, Braxton Jones, Ozzy Trapilo (R), Ryan Bates, Luke Newman (R), Theo Benedet, Kiran Amegadjie

Special Teams (2)​

Kicker: Cairo Santos

Punter: Tory Taylor

Long snapper: Scott Daly

Defense (25)​

Defensive end (4): Montez Sweat, Dayo Odeyingbo, Daniel Hardy, Dominique Robinson

Defensive tackle (5): Grady Jarrett, Gervon Dexter Sr., Andrew Billings, Shemar Turner (R), Chris Williams

Linebacker (5): T.J. Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds, Noah Sewell, Ruben Hyppolite II (R), D’Marco Jackson

Safety (4): Jaquan Brisker, Kevin Byard III, Elijah Hicks, Jonathan Owens

Cornerback (7): Jaylon Johnson, Nahshon Wright, Tyrique Stevenson, Kyler Gordon, Josh Blackwell, Nick McCloud, Jaylon Jones

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Injured reserve with a possible designation to return: Travis Homer RB, Amen Ogbongbemiga LB, Austin Booker DE

Season-ending injured reserve: Terell Smith CB, Shaun Wade CB, Deion Hankins RB

Reserve/Non-Football Injury: Zah Frazier CB

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Just like last year, teams can put up to two players on injured reserve with a designation to return without having to put them on the active 53-man roster first. Teams are allowed to designate eight total players to return during the regular season, with two additional returns in the postseason.

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We’ll update our Chicago Bears 53-man roster all year long as moves are made, so bookmark it so you always know where the team stands.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/c...-53-man-roster-update-injured-reserve-nfi-nfl

 

[Chicago Bears]

Bear Bones: Bears Roster Reactions and Season Preview

We’ve had a couple of days to reflect on the Chicago Bears’ 53-man roster, their cuts, and new practice squad, so let’s talk about it! Our Bear Bones crew is back on our 2nd City Gridiron YouTube channel, so join Dr. Mason West and his frequent co-host, Danny Meehan, as they discuss how they feel about the overall roster construction, the left tackle issues, what moves they’d like to see the Bears make, and how they see the season going.

They’ll no doubt spend some time on the blockbuster Micah Parsons trade, so stop by for some venting on that.

Check out the show in the embed below at 5:30 p.m. CT, or you can visit our YouTube channel and hang out with the fellas!


Once the podcast version is available, we’ll share it here:


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Our 2nd City Gridiron Podcast Channel is available on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, Audacy, and other popular podcast platforms, so hit subscribe wherever you get your audio. Our YouTube home is also called 2nd City Gridiron, so subscribe there for our pods and other video content.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/c...nes-bears-roster-reactions-and-season-preview

 

[Chicago Bears]

Bears place Austin Booker on IR, sign two to 53-man roster

The Bears have made a few roster moves in light of an injury.

The Bears made a handful of moves to their 53-man roster on Thursday, as first noted by Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.

Their moves are as follows:

• Send defensive end Austin Booker to the injured reserve with a knee injury.
• Promote long snapper Scott Daly and wide receiver Devin Duvernay from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.
• Place linebacker Carl Jones Jr. on waivers.

Booker suffered his injury in the Bears’ preseason win over the Bills. With four sacks, he led the NFL in preseason sacks, despite only playing in two games. The injured reserve designation means that he will miss at least the first four weeks of the 2025 NFL season. Since Chicago’s bye week falls on Week 5, the first game he will be eligible to return for will be their Week 6 matchup against the Commanders.

Both Daly and Duvernay were released on Wednesday, after the Bears claimed linebacker D’Marco Jackson and cornerback Jaylon Jones off waivers. Since the two veterans each have more than four seasons of accrued NFL playing time, they were not subject to waivers and hence were immediately signed back to the practice squad.

Placing Booker on the IR opened up a roster spot for the Bears, as did the waiving of Jones. An undrafted free agent from UCLA in 2024, Jones spent most of his rookie season on Chicago’s practice squad. Unless a team claims him off waivers, it’s safe to assume he’ll be heading back to the practice squad once he clears.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/chicago-bears-news/97218/chicago-bears-roster-austin-booker-injury

 

[Chicago Bears]

Micah Parson shockingly traded to Packers

What in the world just happened?

The NFL world was stunned when the news came down this afternoon that Jerry Jones had decided to trade Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers for two first-round picks and DT Kenny Clark.

I was going to write this up as an objective news piece, but I’m unable to do so.

This sucks.

There’s no way to spin it. You can say, “They don’t have a first-round pick the next two years!” You can say, “Kenny Clark is gone!” That’s some serious cope. There’s no way to spin this in a positive direction for the Chicago Bears.

No, this doesn’t guarantee the Packers a Super Bowl championship, just like it didn’t guarantee the Bears anything when they traded for Khalil Mack. But we saw what Mack did for that Bears defense in 2018. Parsons could (and should) have that kind of impact on the Packers’ defense this season.

As for Jerry Jones and the Cowboys, I will say this, and not because he chose the Packers of all teams; he could have sent him to the AFC, like any normal football executive would have, and I would say the same thing: Jerry needs to be stopped.

We always hear about how sometimes players take contract negotiations personally (see Roquan Smith). This is the first time I’ve heard that the team allowed things to get personal. Jones traded Parsons because his feelings were hurt. Whether it was because he misunderstood and thought Parsons agreed to a below-market deal (without his agent!), or whether it was because Parsons sought out a second opinion on his back and Jerry felt like Micah wasn’t loyal. Whatever the case was, this is truly insane.

Jerry Jones likes the headlines and likes the soap opera. We all thought that’s what this was. Just a way for Jerry to keep his team as the top story on ESPN, and that eventually this deal would just get done. But I was wrong. The media was wrong.

A sensible executive would have sent Parsons to the AFC, just like the then-Oakland Raiders sent Khalil Mack to the NFC. Not only does he keep Parsons in the NFC, he trades them to a contender, and to a team that has had quite the rivalry with Dallas, including when Aaron Rodgers ripped the hearts out of the Cowboys with an insane last-minute victory in the 2016 NFL Playoffs.

That’s the team you choose to trade Micah Parsons to? That’s the team you send arguably the best non-quarterback in the NFL?

I now expect the Green Bay Packers to win the division. I think the Packers have catapulted themselves to one of the top 7 or 8 teams in the league. This is a great move for them, and it’s rough for the Chicago Bears.

Ben Johnson now has to deal with Micah Parsons blowing up his offense. If anyone can scheme around that, it’s him, but the Bears’ path to becoming a Super Bowl contender just got a lot tougher.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/c...223/micah-parson-shockingly-traded-to-packers

 

[Chicago Bears]

Tyson Bagent named 10th best backup Quarterback in the NFL

CBS Sports dropped an article on Monday ranking their top 10 best back-up Quarterbacks for the 2025 season, and the Chicago Bears 3rd years Quarterback, Tyson Bagent made the cut at number 10.

Bagent was named the 30th best by PFSN just two weeks ago, but has since put together two fantastic performances in the preseason, including playing the entire second half in the Bears’ preseason finale against the Kansas City Chiefs, engineering a 29-27 come from behind victory, which included 3 straight touchdown drives in the 4th quarter.

Per my Quarterback grading system, he compiled passing grades of 2.20 against the Buffalo Bills in week 2 and 2.90 in week 3 against the Chiefs, both scores of which chart in as “Great” halves of football.

Fresh off inking a 2 year, 10 million dollar extension last week (with incentives making it worth up to 16 million), Bagent completed 46 of 69 passes (66.7%) for 511 yards, 5 touchdowns and just 1 interception, good for a 106.6 Passer Rating. He was arguably better statistically in the preseason last years, albeit in more limited reps, going 17 of 25 (68.0%) for 207 yards, 2 touchdowns, not interceptions and a Passer Rating of 119.9 Rating.

The Sheppard University stand out broke nearly every school passing record, and is currently the Division II record holder for completions (1,400) and yards (17,034), also holds the overall NCAA passing touchdown career record, with 159.

He has earned praise from Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson and General Manager Ryan Poles alike.

Ryan Poles to the FOX crew just now: "Tyson's a stud. There isn't a harder worker on this football team than Tyson Bagent."

— Ruthie Polinsky (@ruthiepolinsky) August 18, 2025

Ben Johnson is also enamored with his work ethic.

“I mean, I’ve really been blown away by his approach from the spring to start of camp to where we are now. He does a tremendous job knowing what to do, how to do it and getting it done. So I don’t think you can have enough talent in that room.”

Bagent went 2-2 in 2023 as an undrafted rookie filling in for Justin Fields, who injured his thumb in Week 6 against the Minnesota Vikings. A stretch that included an impressive win over the Las Vegas Raiders, earning him praise from the fanbase and national media alike.

The 10th overall ranking for backup Quarterbacks shows that Tyson Bagent has proven himself to be more than just a feel-good Division II story. His mix of clutch preseason performances, statistical efficiency, team trust, and prior NFL experience vaulted him from being an afterthought at 30th per PFSN, into CBS Sports’ top 10 backup quarterbacks for 2025.

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Gary Baugher Jr. is a rookie contributor to WCG, bringing football insight backed by over 16 years of experience in organized football and more than 30 years as a passionate fan of the game. You can follow him on Twitter at @iamcogs.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/c...named-10th-best-backup-quarterback-in-the-nfl

 

[Chicago Bears]

WCG’s NFL Power Rankings: Pre-Week 1

The start of the 2025 NFL regular season is upon us after another fun offseason. The Philadelphia Eagles will look to become the second team in a row to win back-to-back Super Bowls, but in an improved division, it won’t be easy. The start of a new season always brings optimism for the 32 teams around the league. After all, there are always a handful of new teams that make the playoffs each year. With the season set to kick off in less than a week, let’s rank each team and where they stand heading into another exciting season of football.

1. Philadelphia Eagles

The top of the NFC remains unresolved. Despite winning the Super Bowl a year ago, the Eagles lost plenty of talent in free agency over the offseason. With an improved Commanders squad looking to take the next step, and the Dallas Cowboys in a new era under Brian Schottenheimer, the Eagles must keep their foot on the gas if they want to repeat as division champs yet again.

2025 Headline: Fly Eagles Fly. But how high can they go? Why a repeat performance might be tough.

2. Kansas City Chiefs

I’ve seen plenty of predictions coming in for the Broncos and Chargers to overtake the AFC West crown this season. Perhaps I’ll be wrong, but I just don’t see it yet. Patrick Mahomes is still great, and their offensive tackle situation looks much better than a year ago. Similar to the Patriots’ dominant run under Bill Belichick, I’ll need to see it to believe it when it comes to the end of a dominant run. For now, I’ll continue to feel the Chiefs are the AFC favorites yet again.

2025 Headline: Will this finally be the year the Chiefs relinquish the division? Here’s why you shouldn’t count on their demise.

3. Buffalo Bills

From a talent perspective, there’s no denying that the Bills stack up well against any team in the league. The issue is that once they get into the playoffs, they haven’t been able to get over the hump, even with an MVP-level quarterback. The same could be said about another team on this list, but we’ll get to that later. Although I’m not sure the addition of Joey Bosa will move the needle, this is a complete team with as good a chance as anyone to win it all. It’ll be up to Sean McDermott’s defense to perform once the playoffs roll around.

2025 Headline: Super Bowl Bills or another disappointing finish? Why 2025 could finally be the year the Bills break through.

4. Detroit Lions

History has not been kind to head coaches who lose both coordinators in a single offseason. The one exception that comes to mind? The Super Bowl-winning Eagles from a year ago. There’s no question that Dan Campbell is a good head coach, but it’s worth wondering how much of an adjustment period his team will see following the losses of Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn, and multiple members of their staff. This is still a very talented roster, and because of that, it’s easy to see why they are projected as the NFC North favorites.

2025 Headline: For the culture: Why Dan Campbell is poised to prove the skeptics wrong, despite losing half his coaching staff this offseason.

5. Baltimore Ravens

Last year’s second-half run to win the division and get to the AFC divisional round was quite impressive. Especially coming off the heels of a 0-2 start. Quarterback Lamar Jackson had yet another outstanding season, and I felt he should have won the MVP. Even so, their inability to win the “big game” in the playoffs has been a big issue. It feels like one of Baltimore or Buffalo is due to knock off the Chiefs, but the bigger question is which one will be the one to do it.

2025 Headline: Lamar the Great: Why Jackson must find a way to conquer his last foe, the playoffs.

6. Washington Commanders

Outside of the 2022 Cincinnati Bengals, it’s hard to recall a better one-year turnaround than what the Commanders experienced last season. The club’s new ownership quickly turned things around, and the front office made many “right” decisions. Despite rumored attempts to move up to No. 1 overall and take the hometown kid in Caleb Williams, Daniels went on a tear that somehow eclipsed C.J. Stroud’s rookie season. Now we’ll see if they can take the next step or if last year was a product of playing over their heads. The pieces are there.

2025 Headline: And for his encore: Can Jayden Daniels avoid regression in Year 2, or will he follow a similar path to C.J. Stroud?

7. Green Bay Packers

It’s hard to label any (11-6) season a disappointment, but if you ask any Packers fan how they expected last year to go, most would have said they expected better. The good news is that this is still a young team with plenty of talent. Their defense took a significant step in the right direction under Jeff Hafley, but the offense remained stagnant. Following the big acquisition of edge rusher Micah Parsons, this could be a Top 5 defense in 2025. In theory, the addition of Matthew Golden should take their offense to a new level, but with Jordan Love recovering from thumb surgery, it’s fair to wonder how fast of a start they’ll get off to. The talent is there, but they’ll need to see another jump in development to make the playoffs. Could the Packers be considered a defensive team with a “good” offense in 2025?

2025 Headline: Love Island: Did Jerry Jones just give the Packers the missing piece to their Super Bowl hopes?

8. Los Angeles Rams

Before Matthew Stafford’s reported back issues that kept him out of the majority of camp, I had the Rams as one of my darkhorse teams to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Now, I’m questioning how high their ceiling can be with an aging quarterback with severe back issues. The Rams are a good team coached by one of the best in the game. If everything is created equal and Stafford is healthy, this is one of my favorites for a Super Bowl berth. If not, I don’t share the same faith in Jimmy Garoppolo.

2025 Headline: Division favorites or taking a step back? Why Matt Stafford’s health is paramount for the Rams reaching their potential.

9. Denver Broncos

Most knew that Sean Payton was one of the best coaches in the league, but what he was able to do last year cemented his status as one of the league’s best. He took a quarterback that most had a late first or early second-round grade on and made the playoffs. It’s fair to question Bo Nix’s ceiling, and Year 2 should go a long way in determining that. With an elite defense and an offense that was playing consistently down the stretch, there’s credence to the thought that they could push Kansas City for the division, even if I think it’s premature.

2025 Headline: Bo knows or Mac Jones? Why Year 2 of the Nix, Payton pairing will define Denver’s future.

10. Minnesota Vikings

Speaking of outstanding head coaches, Kevin O’Connell led a team that shocked the entire league last year en route to a 14-win season. He did it all with a journeyman quarterback in Sam Darnold, who landed a big contract in Seattle a year later. Now, he’ll be tasked with working his magic again. If they can get Darnold-level production from McCarthy, this is a Super Bowl contender with the proper breaks.

2025 Headline: With an elite roster to support him, is J.J. McCarthy ready for prime time?

11. Los Angeles Chargers

No matter how you cut it, the loss of Slater is a tough one. Just weeks after becoming the highest-paid tackle in the league, a knee injury will force him to miss the entire 2025 season. On the plus side, Joe Alt will slide back over to his natural side, but it’s hard to replace a two-time Pro Bowler. This is a well-rounded team in a tough division. The passing offense, in particular, will need to take the next step if it expects to compete for a division title and achieve playoff success. If there’s a head coach who could get his team to take the next step, it’s Jim Harbaugh.

2025 Headline: Jimmy and Justin’s sHerbert shop: Can they overcome the loss of Rashawn Slater and challenge for the division?

12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The NFC South has been one of the weaker divisions from top to bottom over the last few years. As a result, the Buccaneers have benefited from the lack of competition. On paper, this is a good roster, yet they haven’t played to the level of most division winners. How they start the season will be interesting to monitor, especially on offense. With Chris Godwin slowly working his way back to good health and Jalen McMillan out for the first half of the season with a neck injury, early pressure will be on first-round pick Emeka Egbuka to complement Mike Evans. On paper, this should be an 11-12 win team. We’ll see if they can live up to expectations in what should be another down year in the South.

2025 Headline: How many times can head coach Todd Bowles strike gold at offensive coordinator? Tampa Bay’s offensive success might be the key to their season.

13. Cincinnati Bengals

Week 2 of the preseason in Cincinnati was one to forget. Despite keeping the offense on the field for an extended amount of time on Monday Night Football, quarterback Joe Burrow spent the majority of the time running for his life and taking unnecessary hits. The key to the Bengals’ season relies on the offense being elite, especially given the significant resources they invested in that side of the ball this offseason. Even so, it’s fair to wonder if their defense is going to be good enough to get them into the playoffs. That unit still looks atrocious against the run and is still without Trey Hendrickson coming off the edge. 2025 feels like a critical year for all involved in Cincinnati.

2025 Headline: Make or Break: Can a loaded Bengals offense cover up a toothless defense?

14. Arizona Cardinals

The NFC West is a closely contested division, where a strong argument could be made for any of the four teams. Assuming Stafford is healthy, the Rams feel like the favorites, but would anyone be surprised to see the Cardinals finally break through? Since taking over in 2023, head coach Jonathan Gannon and the front office have made a concerted effort to add young talent to this roster. Now that Gannon has the horses up front for his defense, this could be the year they take the next step. Quarterback Kyler Murray bounced back in 2024 with a fully healthy year, but if this group is going to push for a playoff spot, he’ll need to look like he did coming out of Oklahoma. A significant help to that cause would be Marvin Harrison Jr. becoming the star most believed he would be after coming out of Ohio State. There’s plenty on the line in 2025, but this should be the sexy “breakout” candidate this season.

2025 Headline: Maserati Marv and the streaking Kylers. Will 2025 finally be the year that Jonathan Gannon’s group breaks through?

15. Pittsburgh Steelers

Not much has changed in Pittsburgh over the last decade plus. In some ways, that’s a good thing, but their inability to find any semblance of playoff success is troubling. Following another first-round exit in 2024, the Steelers decided to shake things up on offense once again, allowing both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson to depart in free agency. After a saga that lasted into July, Aaron Rodgers finally committed to playing one last season. Additionally, the team swapped out George Pickens for D.K. Metcalf. Similar to Seattle, there was plenty of shuffling, but it’s worth wondering how much better they are. Maybe Rodgers has one last ride in him, but history shows that’s unlikely to be the case. Either way, this will be an interesting team to monitor in 2025.

2025 Headline: Age ain’t nothing but a number. That’s what Steelers fans have been telling themselves in hopes that Aaron Rodgers’ (likely) final season doesn’t mirror Brett Favre’s.

16. Houston Texans

By all accounts, last year was a disappointment in Houston. Sure, they won the division, but it felt like a situation where they were the best of a weak division. Despite their lackluster regular season, they were able to win a playoff game, which should be seen as a positive. Going into the offseason, their most significant need came along the offensive line. Yet, it’s easy to wonder if any actual improvements were made. They traded away starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil, added a few journeymen, and drafted Arientay Ersery. On paper, the offensive line is worse than last year, but we’ll see if the shuffle was enough to spark improvement. The good news is that they are in a weak division with no clear-cut challenger.

2025 Headline: Sack watch: Can a new offensive coordinator and a re-worked offensive line be enough to get C.J. Stroud to the next level?

17. Seattle Seahawks

You can make a strong argument for the Seahawks having the most confounding offseason of any potential playoff team. Following a year where they missed the playoffs by a game, they swapped out their quarterback and top receiver for more expensive options. Change can be a good thing, but I’m having a hard time believing that this will be one of them. Sure, Sam Darnold is younger than Geno Smith, but is he better? I don’t think so. Swapping out Metcalf for an aging and slower Cooper Kupp was also a choice. We’ll see what Year 2 of Mike MacDonald has in store, but it’s fair to wonder how much better they really are heading into 2025.

2025 Headline: Change, change, change. Will Seattle’s bold offseason moves pay off, or will Sam Darnold’s clock strike midnight?

18. San Francisco 49ers

Following a year where the 49ers were marred by injuries galore, 2025 isn’t off to a much better start. Star receiver Brandon Aiyuk still appears to be far off from returning. Depth at running back and receiver is troubling to say the least. Combine that with an aging roster, and it’s fair to wonder how much disaster potential this season could have. There’s no denying that Kyle Shanahan is a great coach, but what happens if they miss the playoffs for a second straight season? The talent is there, but it’s fair to wonder if their window on their current core has already closed. Similar to Seattle, 2025 feels like a potentially deciding year in San Francisco.

2025 Headline: Has the 49ers window closed? With an aging roster and multiple significant losses this offseason, this might be a make-or-break year for general manager John Lynch.

19. Atlanta Falcons

It’s been a rough ride in Atlanta since Matt Ryan’s prime, especially at the quarterback position. Despite changes at head coach, things haven’t changed much. There’s hope in Atlanta that a full season of Michael Penix will cure some of their ails on offense. For my money, the NFC South is wide open for the taking. The talent is there, but the consistency and ceiling are the two big questions for the Falcons. Historically speaking, the chances of all six first-round quarterbacks being “hits” are nearly impossible. Can Penix be one of the outliers? Only time will tell.

2025 Headline: Year two of Michael Penix is the key to breaking their playoff drought. Do they finally have the right guy under center?

20. Chicago Bears

The debut of the Bears’ first team offense in Week 2 of the preseason was something, wasn’t it? Bears fans are no strangers to strong preseason performances being the highlight of the season, though. Ben Johnson was brought in with Caleb Williams as a priority. Still, so far, his intense personality has benefited a team that lacked any semblance of culture during the Eberflus era. This is a roster that underwent plenty of changes during the offseason, but in a loaded NFC North, did they do enough to contend for a playoff spot? We’ll see. There’s plenty to be learned in Year 1 of the Johnson era, but all eyes will be on their second-year quarterback, who must take a big step in 2025.

2025 Headline: Johnson and Williams could be a reliable law firm. Can this pairing bring the offensive success fans have been pining for since the Ditka era?

21. Jacksonville Jaguars

Following a somewhat unusual hiring process that led to a few awkward moments for new head coach Liam Coen, the waves have calmed in Jacksonville. The well-traveled offensive mind will be tasked with getting former No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence back on track, just a year after signing a massive contract extension. It’s easy to remain skeptical of the offensive line, but as we learned last year in Washington, the correct offensive play caller can scheme around weaknesses. The bigger question(s) for this roster are on the defensive side of the ball. How much of last year’s struggles were coaching versus the talent? Even if Houston is heading into the year as the odds-on favorite for the division, it’s easy to see a scenario where the Jaguars get back on track and challenge for the top spot in the AFC South.

2025 Headline: Duuuuuuvaaaaaal: Can Travis and Trevor lead the charge back to AFC South relevancy this year?

22. Indianapolis Colts

The official results are in, and the starting quarterback for your Indianapolis Colts is none other than Danny Dimes. It’s almost hard to believe, but the only quarterback with a lower quarterback rating than Daniel Jones since 2023 is none other than Anthony Richardson. Simply put, the Colts’ current regime isn’t in a position to allow Richardson to waste another year of development. Ironic, isn’t it? The regime that was responsible for drafting doesn’t have the time to give their No. 4 overall pick another year to develop. As a whole, this isn’t a bad roster, but it’s hard to envision many scenarios where this season ends in anything outside of a complete house cleaning.

2025 Headline: Here’s to hoping the image of Anthony Richardson’s dislocated finger wasn’t a visual description of things to come for Chris Ballard and company.

23. Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins are heading into a critical 2025 campaign, where changes could be aplenty without a return to the playoffs. Head coach Mike McDaniel is a fun personality, but following a playoff appearance in Year 1, things have not gone well. There are multiple holes on this roster, but when the offense is “right”, they are more than dangerous enough to keep this team afloat. We’ll see if McDaniel can turn things around. I’ve got him as the first head coach fired in 2025. I’m just not buying much with this roster right now, and much of that comes from general manager Chris Grier’s decision-making over the last few offseasons.

2025 Headline: Can Mike McDaniel save his job? It might be Tua late.

24. Dallas Cowboys

The Mike McCarthy era came to an end after four years and a 49-35 regular season record. Despite a quality regular season record, his 1-3 mark in the postseason highlighted his lack of postseason success. Following a typical Jerry Jones-led hiring process, Dallas decided to promote their offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer, to the head position. Although he’s put a good coaching staff around him, the contract saga of Micah Parsons dominated most of the offseason headlines and ended any honeymoon phase for this coaching staff when he was traded to Green Bay on the eve of the regular season. The offense appears to be in good shape, but it’s fair to question the overall ceiling of this team with their current defensive depth chart and lack of cap flexibility.

2025 Headline: Can Jerry handshake deal his way back to contention, or has another quality roster core passed him by?

25. New England Patriots

For a second straight offseason, the Patriots were the first team to hire a head coach. Last year, it was an internal promotion for Jerod Mayo. This year, it was moving as quickly as possible (and likely too quickly) to bring back Mike Vrabel. Objectively, this is a rebuilding roster with some promising young talent, but in a division with only one clear playoff team, would anyone be surprised to see a quick turnaround? Much of that will depend on their second-year quarterback. If Drake Maye can reach his ceiling, there’s reason to believe they could finish around .500 this year. I’m still in the camp of them being one more year from being ready, but we shall see.

2025 Headline: In Drake we (Maye) Trust. Why Mike Vrabel’s team is primed for a quick turnaround.

26. Carolina Panthers

Although things didn’t start as planned last season, the Panthers ended the season with plenty of optimism. Former No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young was benched early in the season, but when he earned the starting job back, he looked like a completely different quarterback. Head coach Dave Canales has demonstrated his ability to develop quarterbacks, but is the rest of the roster ready to compete? Similar to the Patriots, this team could surprise many people. Year 3 of Young is likely to define his future, which makes this a critical year for everyone involved in Carolina. Buckle in!

2025 Headline: The year of Bryce: Is this the year this Young team breaks out?

27. Las Vegas Raiders

It’s hard to envision a scenario where Pete Carroll took this job with an extensive rebuild in mind. History has not been kind to head coaches on their third NFL team, but even if he can act as a stabilizing force and bring some credibility back to the organization, he will have done his job. On paper, this doesn’t look like a playoff team, but they profile as a group that could make significant gains in 2025. It’s just a shame they play in such a deep division.

2025 Headline: Can Pete Carroll break the cycle of instability?

28. New York Jets

On the surface, Aaron Glenn was simply a defensive-minded coach coming from a successful organization. Upon deeper review, you’ll see a hard-nosed head coach with a versatile background on both sides of the ball. It’s easy to feel good about the Jets’ long-term future, while also questioning their ceiling in Year 1 of a brand new regime. 2025 feels like a make-or-break year for quarterback Justin Fields. If he can take a step forward in his development, there’s a future in New York for him; if not, the Jets might be in the market for their long-term starter next offseason. This season should be about establishing a new culture and finding as many long-term answers as possible. After all, there’s a quality core of young talent already on the roster.

2025 Headline: Culture changes take time. But how much time is the question?

29. Tennessee Titans

Don’t let Cam Ward’s preseason numbers fool you. He was much better than what it appeared to be on paper. Last year, I had this team as a sneaky Wild Card contender; this year, I’m just hoping they will do enough not to set Ward up for a second head coach in two years. There’s some talent on this Titans roster, but the primary focus should be growth on the offensive side of the ball. The offensive line settling in would be a good start, and there’s plenty of talent to do so. At some point soon, ownership needs to end the yearly cycle of firing the general manager or head coach.

2025 Headline: Cam the Titans avoid a new head coach with a second-year quarterback in 2026? (See what I did there?)

30. New York Giants

On the plus side, the Giants’ front four is one of the best in the league. Their defense alone should help things stay close in the first half of the season. Another positive development throughout training camp has been that Jaxson Dart has looked pretty damn good. That said, the future of this regime is uncertain and leaning toward a complete reset in 2026 without any semblance of progress. We’ll see if they can ride a quality defense to a respectable record. If not, Giants fans can expect changes galore once again next offseason.

2025 Headline: Let’s ride, New York. Changes are a comin’… again.

31. New Orleans Saints

Since the retirement of Drew Brees, the Saints have a 30-36 record, including their most recent 5-12 season under former head coach Dennis Allen, who was fired. As general manager, Mickey Loomis has continued to kick the can down the road regarding a poor cap situation, which worsens the future outlook for this team. With Kellen Moore at the helm as head coach, the primary goal should be solving the quarterback dilemma and trying to get out of cap hell. Whether either of these two can be accomplished remains to be seen. Thus, it could be another rough season for Saints fans in 2025.

2025 Headline: I can’t believe it’s not cap space: Dead money edition.

32. Cleveland Browns

There’s not a whole lot to feel optimistic about for the upcoming season if you’re a Browns fan. The defense is still in solid shape, but their quarterback situation severely limits their ceiling. As if their four-horse quarterback race wasn’t enough, injuries forced another move to sign Tyler “Snoop” Huntley in the short term. The image of Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel sitting on the bench with a doomed look on their face feels like a symbolic prelude to what’s to come in 2025. The team’s sole objective should be securing the No. 1 overall pick. Good luck to you, Joe Flacco. You’re going to need it.

2025 Headline: “With the first pick in the 2026 NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns select…”

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/c...pre-week-1-eagles-bears-chiefs-ravens-packers

 

[Chicago Bears]

Five Reasons the Packers’ Micah Parsons Trade isn’t as Good as it Looks

I feel ya, Chicago Bears fans. The Green Bay Packers have pulled their own Khalil Mack trade and acquired Micah Parsons from the Dallas Cowboys for Kenny Clark and two first-round picks. Cue the dirge. RIP Braxton Jones.

But before we pack up and go home and crown the Green Bay Packers, rather than actually play the 2025 NFL Season, here are a few notes of caution before the Cheeseheads uncork the champagne:

#1 The Packers are Staring at Cap Hell​

Trading for Micah Parsons and paying him in excess of $45 million places serious strain on the Packers’ cap situation, especially given they are already paying Jordan Love a ton of money to be their #1 QB. Furthermore, the Packers will eat $35 million in dead cap by trading Kenny Clark to the Dallas Cowboys, given he had already signed a $64 million contract extension with the Packers in 2024.

And it gets worse when we cast our eyes at the Green Bay free agents in 2026 and 2027.

2025 could be the Green Bay Packers best chance at making a run(explains the Parson's rumors)
Why?

The surplus of early draft picks(Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams trades) are becoming free agents over the next 2 years and they can't keep everyone.

Notable 2026 Free agents:…

— Nick Whalen (@_NickWhalen) August 28, 2025

Those are a number of good-to-very-good players that the Packers will find it difficult to pay after 2025. For example, their Pro Bowl-level guard, Elgton Jenkins, is a serious candidate to be a cap casualty as early as 2026. And now they will be missing, just as the Chicago Bears did after the Mack trade, their cost-controlled first-round picks for the next two seasons.

#2 Kenny Clark was a Key Cog in the Packers’ Run Defense​

The Green Bay Packers were fifth in the NFL in rushing yards per game in 2024, allowing only 146.8 yards per game on the ground. A big part of that run defense was Kenny Clark eating double-teams in the middle of that Packers defense. While the Packers’ edge rush is going to be something to behold, with Rashan Gary and Micah Parsons crashing the edges, the Packers’ interior defense has taken a serious blow with Kenny Clark headed to Dallas. And outside of going out and trying to sign Christian Wilkins, there are no obvious solutions for GB to fill the hole Clark leaves in their interior defense.

#3 The Packers Remain an Incomplete Team​

It’s not just their interior rush defense that the Green Bay Packers have to worry about in 2025. The Green Bay secondary, outside of Xavier McKinney, is the Achilles heel of this defense, a secondary that saw Jaire Alexander hop ship for the Baltimore Ravens. Keisean Nixon, Carrington Vaentine, and Nate Hobbs aren’t striking fear in the hearts of any of the offensive coordinators in the NFC North. So Green Bay’s pressure better get home, or they are likely to be gashed in the passing game, particularly in the deep third.

On offense, the Packers should still feature a solid rushing attack with Josh Jacobs and Matt LeFleur, and they added a first-round receiver for the first time in decades with Matthew Golden. But I for one was underwhelmed with their offseason acquisitions. They paid a bunch of money to Aaron Banks, who had trouble staying healthy for the San Francisco Forty-Niners, and was fairly middling when he was healthy. Jenkins is starting to get long in the tooth. It has always seemed like the Packers are able to field a top third offensive line no matter who they plug into their starting five, but color me skeptical that this offensive line will be as dominant as past Packers teams. Oh, and speaking of Jacobs – he will be 28 years old next season, an age where running backs tend to fall off the cliff.

#4 None of this Works if Jordan Love Isn’t Him​

As Chicago Bears fans can tell Green Bay Packers fans, trading for a generational defensive talent doesn’t guarantee you get to host the Lombardi trophy at the end of the season. Indeed, despite the dominance of Khalil Mack as a Chicago Bear, the Bears never won a single playoff game with Mack. The most significant factor in that result was not Mack failing to live up to the hype – he did. No, it was Mitch Trubisky busting out as a starting NFL quarterback. The Green Bay Packers can take solace in the fact that Jordan Love doesn’t appear to be as bad as Trubisky was, but he hasn’t exactly set the league on fire either. In 2024, he threw for 25 touchdowns but 11 interceptions in only 15 games played. His yards per game ranking was 18th overall, below the man he displaced, Aaron Rodgers, and in the company of players like Kyler Murray and Bo Nix. Unfortunately for the Packers, Love does not add a rushing component to his game like Murray and Nix do. The good news is Love, combined with LaFleur’s offensive approach and a great offensive line, was elite at avoiding sacks – only being sacked 14 times in 2024. Is that enough? Perhaps. The Eagles won the Super Bowl with Hurts – but Hurts, again, is a dual threat. Love is a traditional pocket passer. If we look at the top teams in the NFL, there are few pocket passers featured on teams like the Bills, the Ravens, and the Eagles. And Jordan Love is no Patrick Mahomes. If Love can’t move into the top 10 of NFL quarterbacks, it is likely the Packers will squander the Parsons window – just like the Bears squandered the Mack window.

#5 The Packers Were Not One Player Away in 2024​

Speaking of the Packers in 2024 – lost in the fact that they won eleven games and went to the playoffs — is they were just a blocked field goal away from going 0-6 in their division. The Packers failed to win a playoff game, getting trounced by the Eagles, and only scoring 10 points in a game that saw four Green Bay turnovers, including three interceptions by Jordan Love. Much has been said about the Bears not being a player away, and why they shouldn’t be looking to make a Mack-like splash in the 2025 season. But are the Packers really just a player away from competing for the NFC championship – let alone the Super Bowl? While the Packers’ Vegas odds of winning the Super Bowl doubled overnight, I’m not sure we should put our money on the Packers’ Super Bowl run in 2025. They are still in one of the toughest, if not the toughest, divisions in the NFL – meaning that even if they win the North, they may find it difficult to win enough games to earn the bye. Have they done enough to overcome the Washington Commanders, let alone the Eagles? I guess we will see. I for one am going to save my money on that particular bet.

But what do you think? Are the Packers destined for the Super Bowl, now that Micha Parsons is a Cheesehead?

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/c...icah-parsons-trade-bad-good-chicago-bears-nfl

 

[Chicago Bears]

2026 Bears mock draft: Early picks going into regular season

The 2025 regular season is right around the corner, meaning that months of waiting for the return of Bears football are about to come to an end.

It remains to be seen exactly how the year will play out, but training camp and the preseason have provided some insights into which positions may be weaknesses for the Bears this season. Now that college football is also underway, now seems like as good of a time as any for an early 2026 mock draft.

I’ll be using NFL Mock Draft Database’s simulator to make the selections around Chicago’s own picks. I’m also biased towards Pro Football & Sports Network’s simulator, seeing as though they’re gracious enough to pay me for articles. That said, I like to mix things up a little bit, and the consensus big board provides the most accurate sense on where the draft community as a whole ranks certain prospects.

Without further ado, here is my latest seven-round 2026 Bears mock draft.

Round 1: Rueben Bain Jr., EDGE, Miami (FL)​

The mock simulator has the Bears picking in the No. 17 overall slot in the first round. Those of you pushing for Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love here will be disappointed, as he doesn’t fall to Chicago’s selection. Instead, I’ll look to address the pass rush, which is my biggest concern on their roster going into the new year.

Currently my second-ranked edge rusher on my board, Rueben Bain Jr. could end up going higher than this in real life. He’s a powerful edge rusher with a low center of gravity, allowing him to set the edge well in the run game and win with power as a pass rusher. He has a diverse arsenal of moves to shed blocks with, and he has good short-area quickness for someone listed at 275 pounds. Bain stands out as an edge rusher that fits Dennis Allen’s mold well and could be a good starter in the league for quite some time.

Doing early 2026 draft work, Reuben Bain Jr. from Miami is an EDGE I’ve become a fan of.

Inside-outside versatility, powerful defender. Knows how to use his hands to beat guys. Quick off the ball. He’s a name to watch. pic.twitter.com/p7IEUziHrH

— Jacob Infante (@jacobinfante24) April 30, 2025

Round 2: Nicholas Singleton, RB, Penn State​

D’Andre Swift enters 2025 as the Bears’ undisputed starting running back, even coming off of a disappointing 2024 season. A new offense and an improved offensive line is enough reason to believe he improves this year, but if he doesn’t bounce back in a manner that’s reflective of his salary, Chicago might cut ties and look for another starting running back.

My top-ranked senior running back and third-best running back on my board overall, Nicholas Singleton is a talented back who brings size and speed to the table in abundance. He’s a thick runner at 6’0” and 224 pounds, and he hits the hole hard in between the tackles. His combination of straight-line speed and power makes him difficult to bring down at the point of contact. An experienced zone runner from his time at Penn State, Singleton would be a good fit in Ben Johnson’s offense.

Round 3: Keon Sabb, S, Alabama​

Of the Bears’ four contracted safeties on their 53-man roster, none of them are under contract beyond the 2025 season. Though they’ll surely retain some of those players, it’s realistic to think they make some additions at that position next offseason.

Keon Sabb is one of the most pro-ready safeties I’ve scouted so far in the 2026 NFL Draft class. What he lacks in elite range in coverage, he more than makes up for by his decisiveness acting upon his diagnoses in coverage, his ball-tracking skills, and his physicality as a tackler. Alabama lined him up deep, in the slot, and in the box, and his ability to thrive in all alignments speaks to his football IQ. I see him more as a Jaquan Brisker type than a Kevin Byard type, though I suppose which archetype of safety they’d target in the draft depends more on which of the two they’d re-sign.

Round 4 (via Rams): Gennings Dunker, OT, Iowa​

For the time being, I’m going with the assumption that the Bears have their eventual long-term left tackle currently on their roster. I’m trending towards it being Ozzy Trapilo, even though he’s taken more reps at right tackle recently. Even if he’s the guy, assuming that Braxton Jones leaves in free agency, they could always use more offensive line depth.

By the end of 2025, Gennings Dunker will be a three-year starter at Iowa. He’s the second-highest grading returning tackle in the Power 4 with a 90.2 PFF grade and is an experienced zone-run blocker. A powerful down blocker, he packs a nice punch at the point of attack and combines that with good short-area explosiveness. He plays with proper hand activity and a nasty demeanor, allowing him to drive defenders off the ball. He falls to Round 4 due to inconsistent pad level and a lack of lower-half flexibility, but Dunker is a nasty tackle who’s a lot of fun to watch.

I’m also going to include two tweet embeds here on Dunker to show you how cool of a dude he is. He’s a two-time champion of the Solon Beef Days hay bale tossing contest in Solon, Iowa.

Gennings Dunker back to back Beef Days hay bale toss champion pic.twitter.com/naIIaNcvhw

— ¿? (@jchesmore) July 22, 2023

And this is what he eats before, during, and after a game:

Iowa OL Gennings Dunker has a ridiculous diet

(via @BigTenGrant) pic.twitter.com/wCW2EVQVhS

— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) July 9, 2025

Round 5: Maurice Westmoreland, EDGE, Tulane​

While the Bears’ lack of high-end pass rushing talent is a concern for me, I also think the depth could improve in their group of edge rushers. Daniel Hardy is more of a special teamer than a consistent rotational defender, and Dominique Robinson hasn’t shown enough improvement to warrant an extension next offseason in my eyes. Doubling down at defensive end might not be a bad idea.

Maurice Westmoreland combined for 15.5 sacks and 21 tackles for a loss in his 2023 and 2024 seasons at UTEP, and he heads to Tulane this year as one of the most accomplished pass rushers in the FBS. He’s a stout edge rusher with great spatial awareness setting the edge in the run game, and he lands his hand moves with precise timing and placement to shed blocks and prevent tackles from getting inside his frame. He doesn’t have elite bend and is a little shorter for an edge rusher at 6’2”, but Westmoreland has the makings of a good rotational EDGE down the stretch.

Round 6: Kyle Louis, LB, Pittsburgh​

The Bears might honestly take a linebacker earlier than this, especially if they choose to release Tremaine Edmunds next offseason (saving $15 million in the process). In the end, they wait until Day 3 to bring in another player to compete for playing time.

I think Kyle Louis has clear limitations that hurt his draft stock. He’s an undersized linebacker at 6’0” and 225 pounds, and his lack of ideal length and size means it’s tougher for him to deconstruct blocks as a downhill defender. But I love what he brings to the table as a processor and as an athlete. The 2024 All-American had 101 tackles, 16 tackles for a loss, seven sacks, and four interceptions last year. He plays with a high motor in pursuit, which maximizes his long speed and agility. He has a playmaking mentality in coverage across the middle of the field, and his range as a backside defender is intriguing. At the very least, I think Louis can be a demon on special teams.

Round 7: Kam Shanks, WR, Arkansas​

Admittedly, I don’t expect Kam Shanks to declare for the 2026 draft. However, after an All-American year as UAB’s punt returner, I think a strong pass-catching season with Arkansas could be enough to propel him up draft boards.

Shanks is an undersized slot receiver at 5’8” and 170 pounds, but he might just be the most electric receiver in college football right now. He led the FBS with 329 punt return yards and two returns for touchdowns in 2024, also leading the AAC with 20.6 yards per punt return. He’s an explosive athlete who’s quick out of his breaks as a route runner, and that agility also helps him make tacklers miss after the catch. His full-field vision is impressive, and he’s shown some flashes adjusting his route tempo against zone and using his stems to exploit leverage points against man. His size and average hands work against him, but Shanks is lightning in a bottle and deserves NFL consideration.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/chicago-bears-draft/97263/chicago-bears-mock-draft-2026-7-rounds

 

[Chicago Bears]

The Bear’s Den, September 1, 2025

WE WANT YOU!

Would you like to show your Chicago Bears spirit to the world? I’m starting a feature where Windy City Gridiron readers can share pictures of themselves and their families and friends in Bears attire. Simply email a picture to me at the following address: denmasterken at aol dot com. The pictures need to be clear, and full resolution (i.e. full size from your phone if that’s how you take them). Include any description information you like along with the photo!

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL

BEARSSSSSS

Optimist vs. Pessimist: Where are the new-look Bears headed with Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams? – Chicago Sun-Times

A look at the quarterback, defense and head coach as the Bears try to relaunch when the season begins Sept. 8 against the Vikings.

Ryan Poles: Chicago Bears GM on Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams, more – Chicago Tribune

As the Chicago Bears season nears, GM Ryan Poles sat down with the Tribune to discuss coach Ben Johnson’s first training camp, QB Caleb Williams’ development and more.

Status of longtime Bears nemesis uncertain for opening night – SI

There might be no Vikings defensive player who has caused the Bears more problems in the last decade than safety Harrison Smith, but he may miss the opener.

Why do so many people hate Bears QB Caleb Williams? He answers exactly that question – Chicago Sun-Times

In an interview with the Sun-Times heading into his second season, Williams addresses whether his eccentricities lead people not to take him seriously and what he’s doing to put an end to misconceptions about him.

POLISH SAUSAGE

Should Illinois football really be ranked 12th in the country? – Chicago Sun-Times

In this week’s “Polling Place,” we also asked if college Saturdays beat NFL Sundays, or vice versa.

Justin Fields: Can New York Jets QB become next late bloomer? – Chicago Tribune

Justin Fields is on his third team in as many years. Sometimes success as an NFL quarterback takes a change of scenery. Or two.

Dak Prescott wasn’t “completely surprised” by Micah Parsons trade – NBC Sports

Prescott had said “11 is a Cowboy.” Now? Not.

Cowboys extend cornerback DaRon Bland – NBC Sports

As to Bland, the Cowboys didn’t drag their feet.

KNOW THINE ENEMY

The Vikings are optimistic about WR Jalen Nailor for Week 1 – NBC Sports

Adam Thielen is expected to have a prominent role and maybe start.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

2026 Bears mock draft: Early picks going into regular season – Windy City Gridiron

WCG’s lead draft analyst shares his most recent seven-round 2026 Bears mock draft.

Fantasy Focus Part 3: Top 10 Bears – Windy City Gridiron

Good luck in all your fantasy leagues this year!

Will the Bears have alternate Nike uniforms in 2026? – Windy City Gridiron

One report says the Bears will get an alternate uniform in 2026.

Five Reasons the Packers’ Micah Parsons Trade isn’t as Good as it Looks – Windy City Gridiron

The Micah Parsons trade is bad news for the Bears, Vikings, and Lions, but maybe it’s not as bad as we think.

Chicago Bears Fan Confidence is on the Rise – Windy City Gridiron

With the regular season right around the corner, many Bears fans are confident in the team’s direction.

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THE RULES

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2nd City Gridiron Podcast Channel which includes Bears Banter hosted by Bill Zimmerman, Bear & Balanced from Jeff Berckes and Lester A. Wiltfong Jr., Bears Over Beers featuring Ryan Droste and Bryan Orenchuk, Making Monsters with Taylor Doll, Bear Bones from Dr. Mason West, The Mac & Read Show from Evan McLean and Ross Read, and an occasional T Formation Conversation from Lester; Steven’s Streaming Twitch Channel from Steven Schweickert is another fun one.

Click on our names to follow our Windy City Gridiron and 2nd City Gridiron teams on Twitter: Gary Baugher Jr.; Jeff Berckes; Dr. Patti Curl; Sarah DeNicolo; Ryan Droste; Eric Christopher Duerrwaechter; Dan Durkin; Taylor Doll; Donald Gooch; Kev H; Sam Householder; Jacob Infante; Aaron Lemming; Evan McLean; Dr. Ken Mitchell; Danny Meehan; Bryan Orenchuk; Ross Read: Jack R Salo; Steven Schweickert; Jack Silverstein; Khari Thompson; Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; T.J. Starman; Khari Thompson; Dr. Mason West; Bill Zimmerman; 2nd City Gridiron; Like WCG on Facebook; Like 2nd City Gridiron on Facebook.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/c...ptember-1-2025-labor-day-weekend-vikings-week

 

[Chicago Bears]

NFL Week 1 Odds: Minnesota Vikings a road favorite vs Chicago Bears

One week from today, the Chicago Bears will host the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football. There’s been positivity around each club as they look to build around second-year quarterbacks Caleb Williams and J.J. McCarthy.

While the 2024 season wasn’t what Williams or Bears fans expected, he did set several rookie franchise and NFL records, in throwing for 3,541 yards with 20 touchdowns and just six interceptions, good for a passer rating of 87.8. With Ben Johnson now at the helm, expectations have increased for Caleb in year two.

Expectations for McCarthy in year two of the Kevin O’Connell offense are also high, with tight end T.J. Hockenson saying he’s like a combination of Matthew Stafford and Kirk Cousins, who have six Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl ring between them. McCarthy missed all of the 2024 season with a torn meniscus, but that’s not slowing the hype train.

Running back Aaron Jones said he’s as smart as sure-fire Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers.

ESPN’s insider Seth Wickersham would take McCarthy over every other young signal-caller in the NFL.

Former Viking Dante Culpepper is already calling J.J. a “great” quarterback.

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky predicts he’ll be “awesome” this year.

McCarthy only played one series in their preseason opener, completing 4 of 7 passes for 30 yards, and that was apparently enough for O’Connell, who held him out of their remaining games.

The positive buzz is a likely reason the Vikings are a 1.5-point road favorite against the Bears in prime time, according to our friends at FanDuel Sportsbook. If you like the Bears and the 1.5 points, you can get that at -105. If you think the Bears will win regardless of the spread, the moneyline is +108. The point total is set at 44.5, with the over at -104 and the under at -118.

What are your thoughts on these week one odds?

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/c...rite-vs-chicago-bears-caleb-williams-mccarthy

 

[Chicago Bears]

Chicago Bears Open Thread Question of the Day: Who scores the first touchdown?

The first game of every season is as intoxicating as it is nerve-wracking. It could go a million different ways. That is especially true with a new head coach.

So let’s play a game of impossible odds and infinite permutations. These are low stakes, but the glory will be significant.

Who do you think will score the first Bears touchdown of the season and how?

You think this is easy to predict? Not so fast.

Last year the distinction went to Jonathan Owens on a blocked punt returned for a touchdown.

In 2022, Dante Pettis caught a 51 yard touchdown from Justin Fields.

In 2018, Mitchell Trubisky had a 2 yard touchdown run.

In 2011, Matt Forte caught a 56 yard pass from Jay Cutler to open the year.

The year prior, Matt Forte caught an 89 yard pass from Jay Cutler.

In 2007, John St. Clair (an OT!!) caught a 2 yard pass from Rex Grossman in Week 2 for the Bears first Touchdown of the season. (Fun fact: this was one of two receptions in St. Clair’s career).

My point is – these things can be highly random.

Where do I plant my flag?

Although I think that Ben Johnson will be tempted to get creative with his first touchdown this season, I think they keep it fairly simple. My guess is that the first touchdown of the season is a 22 yard crossing route from Olamide Zacchaeus. That connection has looked quite good this season, and the Vikings LBs and Nickle CBs (Pace Jr., Cashman, and Tavierre Thomas) are all pretty weak in coverage. So either OZ, Loveland, or Kmet are good bets to get in on the action in week 1.

Now it’s your turn – who do you think will score the first touchdown for the Bears this season, and how? Sound off in the comments!

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/n...ion-of-the-day-who-scores-the-first-touchdown

 

[Chicago Bears]

Bears announce five captains for 2025 season

The Bears announced their team captain for the 2025 regular season over social media on Tuesday.

The team captains announced will be quarterback Caleb Williams, left guard Joe Thuney, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, free safety Kevin Byard, and kicker Cairo Santos. This selection process leaves Chicago with two captains on offense, two captains on defense, and one captain on special teams.

Of those players chosen, four of them have been in the NFL for more than ten years. Williams is the only exception, having been in the league for two seasons now. Given the vast experience and success of the veterans selected, it’s hardly surprising they went with established locker room leaders as captains, even if Thuney and Jarrett are new to the organization.

Under then-head coach Matt Eberflus, the Bears named eight team captains in the 2024 season. Of those eight players chosen, only Williams and Byard return as captains in 2025. Seven of those selected players remain on the roster, though. Linebackers T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds, wide receiver D.J. Moore, cornerback Jaylon Johnson, and tight end Cole Kmet are the returning players who will not return in captain roles this season. The eighth was tight end Marcedes Lewis, who remains unsigned as of this writing.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/chicago-bears-news/97412/chicago-bears-team-captains-2025

 

[Chicago Bears]

Rome Odunze pulls no punches in defending Caleb Williams on podcast

Second-year receiver Rome Odunze has had it with the inordinate criticism handed out to Caleb Williams, his quarterback and fellow 2024 first-round pick with the Chicago Bears, on social media.

During an appearance on the “St. Brown Podcast” with Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra and former Bears receiver Equanimeous, Odunze was prompted by Amon-Ra to talk about the seemingly constant chatter about Williams, last year’s No. 1 overall pick.

“No matter what he does, good or bad, it’s all on Twitter,” the Lions star said. “I swear, he can’t breathe. … If he takes one step wrong, it’s ‘Caleb did this, this, this.’ They just can’t let him be.”

Odunze emphatically—and colorfully—agreed.

“It’s crazy,” he remarked. “Like, you see other players—and we watch the film and ****—and you can really see who’s out here really bull*******. When it comes to ‘C. Will,’ I don’t know what it was. The media asked me the same thing…I was like, ‘I don’t know. You tell me. Y’all the ones out here creating all the stories.’

“It doesn’t even come down to ‘just keep it football,’ because all the football stuff they talk about is false, too. I don’t know, he just gets all the flak. No. 1 pick in Chicago gets the treatment.”

Amon-Ra St. Brown talking on his latest podcast about how Twitter hates on Caleb no matter what he does pic.twitter.com/ZthKKlSapu

— DaWindyCity Productions (@dwcprodz) September 3, 2025

On one hand, some of the Williams discourse simply comes with the territory of being, as Odunze mentioned, a former No. 1 pick in the draft, former Heisman Trophy winner, a player who’s been dubbed a “generational” talent at QB, and an outsized personality.

But it’s still fair to ask when the incessant microanalysis of everything he says or does, every facial expression he makes, or what color nail polish or phone case he’s rocking on a given day has completely lost the thread.

It’s also more worth pointing out that, despite the Bears winning just five games last year, Williams was far from the problem. In fact, throwing for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns and just six interceptions with the level of organizational dysfunction around him is honestly a win more than anything.

Of course, the target is squarely on Williams’ back once more with an improved offensive supporting cast around him, which includes the addition of offensive guru Ben Johnson as his head coach. So he’ll be expected to make a major leap in 2025. And inevitably, if Williams has a game where he throws for 400 yards, five touchdowns and one pick, some people will only focus on the missteps.

But make no mistake about it: his teammates, Odunze among them, have his back.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/c...unches-in-defending-caleb-williams-on-podcast