The Chicago Bears had a great roster in 2024 but the results didn’t go the way they expected. They drafted Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze after trading for Keenan Allen to go with a Super Bowl-caliber defense. What happened was a 5-12 year with good and bad spots for a rookie quarterback. This all culminated on Black Friday when the Bears fired Eberflus for what was one of the dumbest moves by a team at the end of a game. Going forward, the Bears have addressed this pop Warner stuff with the hiring of Ben Johnson.
QB: Caleb Williams
Caleb Williams had a solid rookie season with 3,541 passing yards, 481 rushing yards, and 20 touchdowns. He did have some growing pains, with six interceptions and six fumbles. What was nice to see was Williams’ repertoire with Odunze growing throughout the season. This will shape the next few years since the Bears most likely won’t bring back Allen, giving Odunze the targets he needs to make him a superstar.
RB: D’andre Swift
D’andre Swift isn’t going to dazzle us with Saquan Barkley like numbers, however he got the job done for the Bears over the last two seasons. Last year, Swift accumulated 1,345 total yards with six touchdowns. Roschon Johnson added in six himself in a limited role, which affected Swift’s overall numbers, but works well as a tandem. Currently, Swift is signed till 202,6 giving Johnson a chance to utilize his skill set going forward.
WR: D.J. Moore
D.J. Moore finished the season strong in 2024, but what could have been if the offense could have been more consistent? Everything fell into place for Moore statistically, however he could have had more yards which would have made this season great for him. With so many mouths to feed, the Bears have themselves a healthy headache. However, as we saw from the mid-season explosion from Moore, frustrations were pulling up. With those feelings in the past, Moore looks to get back to 1000 yards receiving so he can cement himself as one of the league’s best wide receivers.
Defense:
Instead of singling out one or two players as I’ve done for most of these write-ups, I decided to talk about the Bears defense as a whole. For a defense full of great players, being ranked 27th is a problem. It was great to see them give up 17 passing touchdowns last year, which was first in the NFL. Giving up 20 rushing touchdowns wasn’t great either and was a reflection of their run defense. They were second in the league for red zone defense with a 46% conversion rate. Going forward, they have some contracts to sort out, but with a better coach this year, you’ll see them get back to their form like at the end of the 2023 season.
Coaching: Matt Eberflus
Who wants to talk about a coach who had a playoff team handed to him and totally botched it? It wasn’t even about the bad call on Thanksgiving that got him canned but also his 14-32 record in less than three years. In steps Ben Johnson, who was an amazing offensive coordinator with the Lions. Many hope that Johnson can right what Eberflus got wrong since the NFC North is stacked with talent and the other teams whose records were 40-9 combined.
