Quarterback

The Bears went 11-6 last season, but they had two things go their way that are unlikely to continue in 2026, a league best +22 turnover margin, a statistic that tends to be very inconsistent year-to-year, and a 7-4 record in games decided by 7 points or fewer, another statistic that tends to be very inconsistent year-to-year. In terms of schedule adjusted efficiency, which is much more predictive, the Bears ranked just 19th in the league last year at -0.91. Additionally, the Bears lost some key players on both sides of the ball this off-season, without adequately replacing some of them. 

Things aren’t all bad for the Bears going into 2026, however. For one, the Bears had one of the youngest offenses in the league, ranking 7th in snap weighted average age, and got better on that side of the ball as the season went on. On top of that, they should be healthier on defense, where they had the 7th most adjusted games lost to injury in the league last season, which seemed to disproportionately affect their best players. With talented players coming of age on offense and better health on defense, the Bears could easily finish better in schedule adjusted efficiency in 2026 than they did in 2025, though possibly not by a wide enough margin for them to match or exceed last season’s win total.

The most important young player on the Bears roster is quarterback Caleb Williams, the #1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Williams struggled as a rookie, completing 62.5% of his passes for 6.30 YPA, 20 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions, while rushing for 6.04 YPC and no touchdowns on 81 carries, but he took a step forward in his second season in the league with an improved supporting cast and a new offensive minded head coach in Ben Johnson, completing 58.1% of his passes for 6.94 YPA, 27 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions, while rushing for 5.04 YPC and 3 touchdowns on 77 carries. 

Most importantly, Williams went from being sacked 68 times in 2024 to 24 times in 2025, partially due to an improved offensive line, but in large part due to significantly improved pocket presence. Williams still has room for improvement, especially when it comes to accuracy, as he had the 2nd lowest completion percentage over expected last season, but he is still only going into his age 25 season and could easily take another step forward in his third season in the league in 2026.

Williams will continue being backed up by Tyson Bagent, a 2023 undrafted free agent who has mostly struggled in limited action (4 starts, 149 pass attempts), completing 66.4% of his passes for an average of 6.15 YPA, 3 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. Bagent is well liked by the coaching staff because of his football intelligence, but he is very limited, even for a backup. He would be a major liability for this offense if he had to play significant action in 2026.

Grade: B

Offensive Line

The biggest off-season loss for the Bears was center Drew Dalman, who shockingly retired ahead of what would have been only his age 28 season in 2026, after playing at an All-Pro level in 2025. To replace him, the Bears traded for veteran Garrett Bradbury and used a second round pick on Logan Jones, both of whom figure to be a massive downgrade from Dalman. Bradbury has started 105 games in seven seasons in the league, but has been marginal at best, while Jones has the upside to be a starter long-term, but was a bit of a reach in the second round and would likely be a liability if he started in year one. 

Further complicating things is the fact that left tackle Ozzy Trapilo, a 2025 2nd round pick who impressed in 6 starts down the stretch as a rookie, suffered a torn patellar tendon in the post-season and is likely to miss at least a big chunk of the regular season in 2026. In his absence, the Bears have several options, all of whom would be significant downgrades. Braxton Jones, who was the Bears starting left tackle before Trapilo, is probably the favorite for the job, but he has mostly been a liability in his career as a starter.

Theo Benedet also made starts last season, in between when Braxton Jones got hurt and when Trapilo took over the job, but the 2024 undrafted free agent was a liability in 8 starts, after not playing a snap as a rookie. Kiran Amegadjie was a 2024 3rd round pick, but he has only played 126 snaps in two seasons in the league and has struggled when on the field. The Bears also took a flyer on Jedrick Wills, a free agent signing who started 57 games at left tackle for the Browns after being selected by them in the first round in 2020. However, he was middling at best as a starter in Cleveland and frequently injured towards the end of his tenure, leading to him being out of the league entirely in 2025, after only playing 13 starts total in 2023 and 2024 combined. Whoever starts until Trapilo returns is almost definitely going to be a downgrade.

On top of that, left guard Joe Thuney is going into his age 34 season. Thuney has not shown any signs of decline yet and remained one of the best guards in the league in 2025, but there is no guarantee that continues. He would likely remain at least an above average guard even if he does decline this season, but any decline from him would just be another area of concern for a Bears offensive line that is unlikely to be as good as last year even if Thuney continues playing at the same level. 

Right guard Jonah Jackson remains, but he was the weak link on this offensive line last season, only playing at about a league average level. That is par for the course for Jackson, who has been about a league average starter across 78 starts in six seasons in the league. With Dalman gone, Trapilo hurt, and Thuney getting older, right tackle Darnell Wright could easily be the Bears’ top offensive lineman in 2026. 

The 10th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Wright has been an above average starter since entering the league and has also improved in every season in the league, culminating in a 2025 season in which he was one of the best right tackles in the league. Still only in his age 25 season, Wright should remain one of the best right tackles in the league for years to come. This offensive line is unlikely to be as good as it was last season, when they ranked 5th in run block win rate and 1st in pass block win rate, but this is still not a bad offensive line at the very least.

Grade: B

Receiving Corps

The Bears also lost DJ Moore this off-season, but they got a second round pick in return for him, got out of his 24.5 million dollar salary, and his absence will allow younger, more efficient receivers to take on bigger roles in this offense. Moore used to be a consistent 1000+ yard receiver, but he never had good chemistry in Caleb Williams and was starting to be phased out of the offense down the stretch last season, finishing the season with just a 50/682/6 slash line and 1.22 yards per route run on 85 targets. 

The two pass catchers with the highest upside are a pair of second year players, 2025 1st round pick Colston Loveland and 2025 2nd round pick Luther Burden. Loveland led the team in receiving last season with a 58/713/6 slash line, despite not playing the majority of the snaps until midway through the season and only receiving 82 targets. In the final 10 games of the season, Loveland had 47 catches for 597 yards and 6 touchdowns, which extrapolates to a 80/1015/8 slash line over 17 games, and his 1.86 yards per route run average ranked 5th among tight ends. Loveland could easily be one of the most productive tight ends in the league in 2026, in his second season in the league and first full season playing a majority of the snaps.

Burden, meanwhile, only played 402 snaps last season, but he saw his playing time increase as the season went on and finished with a 47/652/2 slash line on just 60 targets, while averaging 2.69 yards per route run, 3rd among wide receivers, only behind Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. In the final 8 games of the season, when he still only played 36.4 snaps per game, he had 34 catches for 481 yards and 1 touchdown on just 45 targets, which extrapolates to a 72/1022/2 slash line over 17 games. With Moore gone, Burden has a clear path to an every down role and, while he might not be quite as efficient in a larger role, he has a huge upside and could easily end up leading this team in receiving. 

Burden will start opposite another young receiver Rome Odunze, the 9th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Odunze has not been as impressive in his career as Loveland and Burden, putting up a 54/734/3 slash line and 1.18 yards per route run on 101 targets in 2024 and a 44/661/6 slash line and 1.61 yards per route run on 90 targets in 2025, and he is likely to be the third option in this offense in 2026, but he is still only going into his age 24 season and has the talent to take a step forward in his third season in the league. Between Odunze, Loveland, and Burden, the Bears’ top-3 pass catching options are all 24 or younger with huge upsides.

The third wide receiver job could go to another young pass catcher too, as veteran free agent addition Kalif Raymond is set to compete with 3rd round rookie Zavion Williams and 2025 undrafted free agent Jahdae Walker. Williams and Walker have upside, but Williams was a reach in the third round and is very raw, while Walker only played 86 snaps as a rookie. Raymond is probably the favorite for the job, but he has never exceeded 616 receiving yards in 10 seasons in the league and now he is going into his age 32 season and coming off seasons of 17/215/2 and 24/289/1 in 2024 and 2025 respectively. Whoever wins the job will likely be a liability and it is possible all three players see action in limited roles.

The Bears could run more two and three tight end sets this season to mask their lack of depth at wide receiver. Cole Kmet is an experienced former starter, which is the reason why Loveland did not play much early last season. His career 1.19 yards per route run average is a bit underwhelming, but he is a solid #2 tight end. The Bears also used a third round pick on tight end Sam Roush to give them even more depth at the tight end position. This is a bit of a top heavy position group and it lacks experience, but they have a lot of upside.

Grade: B+

Running Backs

Another rookie who contributed on this offense in 2025 was running back Kyle Monangai, a 7th round pick who played sparingly early in the season, but earned close to a 50/50 split with lead back D’Andre Swift down the stretch, with 101 carries to 123 for Swift in the final nine games of the season. Their effectiveness levels were pretty similar too, as Monangai averaged 4.63 YPC, 2.95 yards per carry after contact, a 14.8% missed tackle rate, and a 50.9% carry success rate, while Swift averaged 4.87 YPC, 3.01 yards per carry after contact, a 17.5% missed tackle rate, and a 54.7% carry success rate. With Monangai going into his second season in the league, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this being even closer to a 50/50 split in 2026.

Swift has mostly been a marginal starting running back in his career, averaging 4.47 YPC on 1,069 carries in six seasons in the league, which isn’t bad, but he has also consistently played behind good offensive lines and has only averaged 2.61 yards per carry after contact and a 16.3% missed tackle rate in his career. That being said, he forms a decent duo with Monangai, though both could be less efficient this season with the offensive line unlikely to be as effective.

Regardless of how the carry split breaks out, Swift will remain the primary passing down back, after having a 34/299/1 slash line and 1.02 yards per route run on 48 targets last season, while Monangai had a 18/164/0 slash line and 0.75 yards per route run on 30 targets. Swift has averaged 1.23 yards per route run in his career, while Monangai has no history of success in the passing game, with just 38 catches in his entire collegiate career. This is an underwhelming backfield, but Swift and Monangai are not a bad duo and help keep each other fresh on an offense built around the running game.

Grade: C+

Interior Defenders

As I mentioned earlier, the Bears defense should be better than they were last season because they should have better health, but they ranked 28th in schedule adjusted efficiency on defense last season, so, even if they are better this season, they still have a lot of concerns. The interior defender position was a position of weakness for them in 2025 and they didn’t do anything substantial to upgrade the position this off-season.

Gervon Dexter was their best interior defender and he had a solid season, struggling as a run defender, but making up for it by totaling 6 sacks, 7 hits, and a 9.6% pressure rate. A second round pick in 2023, Dexter has been a similar player throughout his career, with 13.5 sacks, 32 hits, and a 10.1% pressure rate in 49 career games, while consistently playing below average as a run defender. Still only going into his age 25 season, there is still time for Dexter to get better against the run, but that is not a guarantee.

Grady Jarrett struggled as the starter next to Dexter in 2025, both as a run defender and a pass rusher (5.2% pressure rate). Jarrett used to be an above average interior defender in his prime, but now going into his age 33 season, his best days are clearly behind him. He figures to continue to struggle, but because the Bears lack a better option, he is likely to continue seeing around the 610 snaps he played last season. 

The Bears did add veterans Neville Gallimore and Kentavius Street in free agency to give them some new reserve options, but both are unlikely to be upgrades and will likely be liabilities. Gallimore was a third round pick in 2020, but he has averaged just 333 snaps per season in six seasons in the league with the 467 snaps he played last season being a career high. He has also struggled throughout his career, especially struggling against the run, but also only managing just a career 5.8% pressure rate. 

Street has had a similar career, struggling across an average of 256 snaps per season in eight seasons in the league, with snap counts of 267, 280, and 216 over the past three seasons. The Bears do have Shemar Turner, a hybrid interior/edge player who they selected in the 2nd round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but he only managed to get on the field for 74 snaps as a rookie, which is a bad sign, considering how much the Bears needed defensive line help. He also didn’t get a single pressure as a rookie and struggled against the run. He could take a step forward in year two, but I wouldn’t count on him suddenly developing into a starting caliber player. Outside of Gervon Dexter, this is a very underwhelming position group and Dexter isn’t nearly good enough to save this group by himself.

Grade: C+

Edge Defenders

Things aren’t much better at the edge defender position, where the Bears also didn’t do anything substantial to upgrade this off-season. Montez Sweat is a solid all-around player, totaling 57 sacks, 72 hits, and a 11.8% pressure rate in 109 career games, while holding up as a run defender as well, but he is going into his age 30 season now and could start to decline. Austin Booker started opposite Sweat last season when healthy, playing 52.0 snaps per game in 10 games, but he managed just 4.5 sacks, 8 hits, and a 9.0% pressure rate and wasn’t much better against the run. A 5th round pick in 2024, Booker was even worse across 283 snaps as a rookie and, while he could still have some untapped potential, it is not a guarantee he is any better in 2026.

The Bears are expected to get Dayo Odeyingbo back from a torn achilles that ended his 2025 season after 369 snaps in 8 games and the Bears gave him a 3-year, 48 million dollar deal last off-season expecting him to start opposite Sweat, but that was an overpay at the time and it is unlikely Odeyingbo will be improved in his first season back from a major injury. A second round pick in 2021, Odeyingbo has shown flashes and is still only going into his age 27 season, but he has managed just 17.5 sacks, 33 hits, and a 8.2% pressure rate in 69 career games while playing inconsistently against the run. I would expect him to be a liability coming off of an injury.

Shemar Turner is also expected to have a role on the edge situationally, in addition to seeing some snaps on the interior, but he would have to improve significantly to be an asset at either position after a tough rookie year. Daniel Hardy is another deep reserve option, but the 2022 7th round pick has shown very little across 126 career snaps. With minimal improvements made to a position group that was a weakness last season, this position group figures to remain a weakness in 2026.

Grade: C+

Linebackers

The Bears’ linebacking corps was one of the units hit hard by injury last season, with starters TJ Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds limited to 568 snaps in 10 games and 813 snaps in 13 games respectively. Edwards should be healthier in 2026 and, while Edmunds was let go for salary reasons, the Bears arguably upgraded on him by signing Devin Bush to replace him in free agency. Edwards has been an above average linebacker both in coverage and against the run in his career and, outside of last season, he doesn’t really have an injury history, playing in every game from 2022-2024. The concern is he is now going into his age 30 season, but even if he declines a little bit, he should remain at least a solid linebacker and even at slightly less than his best it will be better to have him for all or most of the season in 2026 than only having him for about half the season in 2025.

Bush, meanwhile, was a disappointment early in his career as a 2019 1st round pick, but injuries were a big part of the reason for his early career struggles and he has broken out as an above average starter over the past two seasons, playing well both in coverage and against the run, while only missing one game between the two seasons. Still only going into his age 28 season, he should remain at least a solid linebacker in 2026, which makes him better than Edmunds, who was only about a league average starter even when healthy last season.

With Edwards and Edmunds missing time in 2025, reserves Noah Sewell (408 snaps) and D’Marco Jackson (260 snaps). Sewell was a major liability, but Jackson surprisingly played very well in limited action. It came in a very limited sample size and, in total, the 2022 5th round pick has played just 336 total snaps in his career, so he is a projection to a larger role, but he has at least earned the third linebacker and top reserve spot over Sewell and he deserves the 2-year, 7.5 million dollar deal the Bears gave him to stick around this off-season. As far as third linebackers go, he has more upside than most and, overall, I would call this an above average linebacking corps.

Grade: A-

Secondary

Cornerback is another position where the Bears were significantly hurt by injury. Expected top-2 cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon played just 282 snaps in 7 games and 117 snaps in 3 games respectively due to injury. Johnson was one of the best cornerbacks in the league in 2023 and 2024 and, still only in his age 27 season, he could easily return to form in 2026. Gordon, meanwhile, is a solid slot cornerback who is also only going into his age 27 season.

Johnson and Gordon will play in three cornerback sets with Tyrique Stevenson, who was below average across 588 snaps last season, after the 2023 2nd round pick was below average across snap counts of 830 and 810 in the first two seasons of his career. Stevenson is still only going into his age 26 season and could still get better, but he could also easily remain below average this season. In the absence of Johnson and Gordon last season, Stevenson mostly played alongside Nahshon Wright (1,040 snaps) on the outside with CJ Gardner-Johnson (565 snaps) on the slot.  

Both were largely underwhelming, with Wright intercepting 5 passes, but getting beat deep frequently and Gardner-Johnson also frequently getting beat in coverage. However, their loss this off-season does thin out their depth, which would be a problem if one of their top-3 cornerbacks got hurt again. The Bears’ top reserve cornerback options are 4th round rookie Malik Muhammad and Terell Smith, a 2023 5th round pick who flashed potential across 584 snaps over the first two seasons of his career, before missing all of 2025 with a torn patellar tendon, missing his chance to show what he can do in a larger role.

The Bears also lost both starting safeties Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker this off-season, but they did do a decent job of replacing them. Byard was a solid starter, but he will be replaced by Dillon Thieneman, who was a steal with the 25th overall pick. Thieneman might not be as good as Byard was right away, but he also has the upside to be better than Byard was. Brisker, meanwhile, was underwhelming last season and will be replaced by another underwhelming veteran in Coby Bryant. With Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon returning from injuries, the Bears’ secondary should go from a liability to at least a decent unit this season.

Grade: B

Kicker

Cairo Santos will be the Bears’ kicker for the 7th straight season and Santos’ 13th straight season in the league. Santos has largely been a league average kicker in his career, adding just 9.21 points above average across 154 career games. His age is becoming a bit of a concern, going into his age 34 season, but kickers often age pretty well, so he could easily remain an average starting kicker in 2026.

Grade: B

Conclusion

The Bears are unlikely to win as many close games or have as much success in the turnover margin in 2026 as they did in 2025 and they lost some key players this off-season, most notably center Drew Dalman, but they have a lot of young talent on offense that could take a step forward this season, while their defense should be healthier this season than it was last season. They could still struggle to win as many games as they did last season though and they are not a guarantee to make it back to the post-season.

Prediction: 9-8, 3rd in NFC North