At long last, the wait ends Friday when Bears veterans report to Halas Hall for training camp. The first practice is slated for Saturday morning.
The offseason saw general manager Ryan Poles remake the Bears roster with massive additions led by rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, wide receiver Rome Odunze, veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen, and running back D'Andre Swift.
Williams arrived in Chicago and immediately embraced every aspect of being the face of a franchise that has long toiled in quarterback hell.
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An offseason that started with baseless accusations that Williams wouldn't want to play for the Bears ended with Williams signing his four-year rookie contract Wednesday, ushering in an era where anything feels possible.
With the vibes at an all-time high and camp on the horizon, I open up an insider mailbag to conclude an offseason that saw the Bears become the talk of the NFL:
Overreaction? Not at all
Bears Analysis
Caleb Williams' arrival has sucked up all the oxygen surrounding this team, and for good reason.
However, with all the focus on QB1, several should-be high-profile storylines flew under the radar during the offseason program.
Chief among them is the Bears' thin defensive line, which lost defensive tackle Justin Jones and edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue this offseason. Ngakoue remains a free agent, so there is still a chance he could return. (More on that in a bit.)
But with Jones leaving for Arizona and Ngakoue on the street, the Bears lost 70 pressures and nine sacks off last year's defense, per Pro Football Focus. Jones (36 pressures, five sacks) and Ngakoue (34 pressures, four sacks) ranked third and fourth in pressures on last year's team and second and tied for third in sacks, per PFF.
The Bears replaced Jones and Ngakoue with rookie edge rusher Austin Booker and rotational edge rusher Jacob Martin. Martin had 14 pressures, two sacks, and a 17.3 percent pass-rush win rate last season for the Indianapolis Colts.
Everything depends on Dexter's massive leap in his second season to become the disruptive three-technique Eberflus' defense needs to run at peak efficiency.
Last season, Dexter was virtually invisible in the first eight games (zero sacks, nine pressures). But he came on in the second half of the season, tallying 20 pressures and four sacks after Montez Sweat's arrival midseason.
If Dexter can extrapolate those numbers over 17 games this season, he'll replace the production lost by Jones' departure and then some. But the Bears still need to find production on the edge opposite Sweat for me to have complete confidence in the defensive line. And if Dexter doesn't take the leap they expect, the defensive line will be the Bears' Achilles' heel this season.
As for the offensive line, Darnell Wright showed promise in his rookie season, and Teven Jenkins is one of the best interior linemen in the game when he's healthy—emphasis on when. The Bears really believe in Ryan Bates' ability to be their starting center. He should be an upgrade over Lucas Patrick, but I think they needed to do more there. Perhaps Coleman Shelton wins that job, and Bates either starts at right guard due to Nate Davis' unreliability or acts as a swing interior lineman.
The X-factor is Braxton Jones. The Bears could have addressed left tackle with their second first-round pick, but instead, they drafted wide receiver Rome Odunze. That was the correct call, but it also puts a lot of pressure on Jones to be an above-average left tackle in front of Williams. Jones got better in his second season but still gave up 32 pressures, which ranked 32nd out of 56 tackles with at least 700 snaps in 2023. He was tied for 41st in pass-blocking efficiency alongside Trey Pipkins (Chargers) and Terence Steele (Cowboys), who logged at least 400 more snaps than Jones.
Poles has reshaped the roster in record time. The Bears are fast-improving. But there is still work to do, and if they fall short of their goals this fall, it will be because the line play failed them.
Overreaction? Yes
I don't think Velus Jones will be getting any sort of expanded role on offense this season. Should he make the team, his impact will be as the kick returner with potentially a few gadget plays sprinkled in.
I agree that Jones' best use on offense is on sweeps and screens, but the Bears are no longer in a mode where they need to try and develop a failed third-round pick. Eberflus admitted last season that Jones has made too many costly mistakes to keep getting chances, and he needs to earn any snaps he gets on the practice field.
The stakes will be much higher this season, and he'll have two elite veteran receivers and a top rookie ahead of him on the depth chart, not to mention Tyler Scott.
Anything the Bears get from Jones will be a bonus this season. I don't expect it to be much.
Overreaction? No.
I'll frame it as follows: The Bears should sign an edge rusher not named Yannick Ngakoue.
On the Ngakoue front, the two sides were believed to have a mutual interest in reuniting, but there has been minimal movement thus far.
Ngakoue was OK last season. He played better once Sweat arrived, but he was far from the 10-sack machine he had been at his previous stops.
First, I thought Calais Campbell made the most sense because of his inside-outside versatility and the need for more veteran voices in a young locker room. But Campbell signed with the Dolphins, so the Bears are onto these "contenders:'
Ngakoue (2023 stats): 34 pressures, four sacks, 4.8 win percentage
Emmanuel Ogbah: 20 pressures, six sacks, 8.6 win percentage
Justin Houston: 10 pressures, one sack, 10.5 win percentage
Harris signed with the Browns in March, and Lawson is a hard case to judge. He tore his Achilles in 2021 but returned and was effective in 2022 (49 pressures, eight sacks, 14.3 win percentage). He didn't play much in 2023 as the Jets had a log jam at pass rusher and were content to move on from him.
I don't know what Lawson's medicals look like, but he's an intriguing option, and I would consider him instead of Ngakoue.
Regardless, the Bears need help on the defensive line, and it needs to arrive yesterday.
I think the adjustments come in two areas: Trust and organization.
I've talked a lot about how this offensive staff, led by offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph, have a more detailed, systematic plan for developing Caleb Williams than the previous offensive staff did for Justin Fields. Williams has a clear idea of which coach or coaches he should approach for specific questions, be it fundamentals, scheme, big-picture, etc. Eberflus trusts Waldron and his staff to develop a plan to develop Williams in a way I'm not sure he fully trusted the previous staff.
Eberflus will be present in Williams' development, but the biggest change will be in the staff he hired and the plan they all have constructed. Couple that with Eberflus' trust in Williams' talent, and I think there's reason to believe things will be much different this time.
OK, wise guy.
Give me the 100 duck-sized Caleb Williams. Don't underestimate the new face of the franchise.
Happy training camp.