Bear Digest

Can Ben Johnson handle bigger balancing act than he had in Detroit?

Analysis: Keeping everyone satisifed with their workload is less important to the Bears coach than winning games, and he thinks players will eventually feel the same way.
Gene Chamberlain|
Cole Kmet puts his head down and plows ahead against the Lions. There seems little doubt his target count will drop in 2025.
Cole Kmet puts his head down and plows ahead against the Lions. There seems little doubt his target count will drop in 2025. | Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

It's a long way until September.

Ben Johnson explained when he came to Chicago the dynamic of how it's all going to work and then after the draft ended he put it all out there again.

The season will be a study in how well the Bears listened and how much they believe in what their new coach is saying.

When Johnson was basically asked after the draft whether there will be enough footballs to go around considering all the targets, he had an answer ready and waiting as if it was prepared in advance.

"Listen, we talked about it the moment the players got back into the building, call it three weeks ago now," Johnson recalled. "It was going to be a competitive environment. There is no depth chart right now. If you want to play, you got to go earn it. If you want a role, you got to go earn it. They know that.

"We were very straightforward and honest with them when they came into the building. I think all we did this weekend was we might have just turned up the notch, just a couple of dials for certain people in the building. That's a good thing. That's a healthy thing. That's where you bring out the best, not only in your team, but in each individual. What I'm going to be curious to see is what guys look like when the ball's not in their hands on offense."

It's easy to be on board this time of year when statistics are not compiled and players—especially pass catchers—are not counting their targets and receptions like cash. It's often a concern once the season starts.

"You're right, we have a lot of weapons," Johnson said. "How are you going to run your route when you might not be No. 1 in the progression? How are you going to block for your teammate when he has the ball? Because if you do those things right, then as a coaching staff, we're going to want to get you the ball a little bit more.

"It all ties together. It all goes hand in hand. That's the beauty behind it."

No block, no rock, as he said.

However, even with blocks there is no guarantee some of these players are going to get the kind of targets they're used to having. It's just not possible.

DJ Moore has never had less than 118 targets since his rookie year and had 136 and 140 in two Bears seasons. Cole Kmet had 90 targets in 2023 and then only 55 last year. It could be even less than 55 with tight end Colston Loveland and wide receiver Luther Burden III now on board after the draft.

When Johnson took over at Detroit, during the first season Amon-Ra St. Brown had 146 targets and no other wide receiver or tight end more than the 64 Kalif Raymond had. Josh Reynolds had 59. T.J. Hockenson averaged six a game for seven weeks and was traded.

It was still the St. Brown show with 141 targets last year, but the rise of a healthy Jameson Williams brought his targets up to 91 and tight end Sam LaPorta had 83 targets without a real second tight end taking away targets. Still, the ratios didn't change a lot.

It could change in Chicago, though, with more top-tier receivers than just St. Brown, Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta. Moore is established, Odunze and Burden first- and second-rounders respectively. The tight ends are first- and second-rounders.

It's going to be as interesting to see how Johnson handles getting calls in to keep these players happy as it is to see who is satisfied with the lower target counts.

There is great speculation Kmet has come out the loser in all of this. The thinking goes he is going to either 1) lose targets, 2) get traded, or both.

It is possible he could get traded for a running back, or someone else could, until they have someone else with experience carrying the football.

More likely is someone who is in the final year of their contract would be dealt than someone counting $9.9 million against the cap like Kmet does, because teams don't willingly go hunting for cap debt at this late date. They will again just before the trade deadline.

Last year Kmet was being asked about getting fewer targets and started laughing about it. In so many words, he basically said he's had enough targets, he wants to win and targets be damned. This is much easier to say when you've been paid.

Both Moore and Kmet have been paid, the others are young and feeling no pressing need to make catches or lose out on cash with extensions not due for several years.

This is a good mix to have if target counts for some players are going to drop. It beats four guys with contracts due and a team struggling to win games.

And in this situation, why would the Bears need to get rid of Kmet just because he has a cap hit of $9.9 million? They don't have to pay any of those other receivers anything of substance again any time soon. He'd be safe for a year or two, anyway.

Whether Johnson can pull it all off and keep everyone satisfied on the field will be a more pressing question until it actually happens.

The great deodorizer in all of it is winning. If a team wins, like Kmet said last year, who cares about the targets?

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.