Bear Digest

Jaylon Johnson snub barely causes a ripple for one main reason

Analysis: The Bears couldn't land a single player on the NFL top 100 list and even NFL.com admits they probably should have someone on it, but this is all too common for Ryan Poles' era.
Gene Chamberlain|
Jaylon Johnson didn't seem to care much about not being on the NFL top 100 list.
Jaylon Johnson didn't seem to care much about not being on the NFL top 100 list. | Chicago Bears On SI Photo: Gene Chamberlain

In this story:

Chicago Bears

Time was when Jaylon Johnson would have been complaining for a week about not making the NFL top 100 list.

It's a list voted on by players themselves, so there's really no one to complain to other than your brethren. A slight? It's more of a popularity contest than anything else, anyway.

The Bears cornerback still hasn't made it onto the list after two Pro Bowl seasons, even after Pro Football Focus had him ranked No. 1 among all cornerbacks two years ago.

"The first time it was just like ‘hell no,' " Johnson said. "It is what it is, honestly, at this point.

"I think for me, I’m just trying to win. That’s all, just trying to win at this point. Just winning. And I know when you win, you’ll get more of those accolades, you’ll get more recognition. But right now, we’re looked at as the bad news Bears. If we want anything to change, we need to go out there and win games."

It's actually a healthy attitude.

NFL.com digital content editor Jeremy Bergman wrote a jilted player story and in it suggested one Bears player who missed it.

"As a first-team All-Pro guard, former Chief Joe Thuney—now with the Bears—could have made this list," he wrote.

It's hard to understand how any list with guards on it could omit Thuney but isn't done with a quota per position like with picking All-Pro or Pro Bowl. Bergman acknowledged there are too few interior offensive linemen on the list.

As for Johnson and Moore, Bergman even names them specifically.

"Jaylon Johnson, a Pro Bowler in each of the past two seasons, and DJ Moore are two of the most consistent players in the league, but neither Bears star has ever cracked the "Top 100" ranking, a slight that should change next year," he wrote.

There's no way of knowing this unless he has a crystal ball. The players will decide it.

The omission of any Bears reflects poorly on someone and it's definitely not Johnson or DJ Moore or voters who decided the top 100.

A common theme for the Bears, whether it's been top 100, Pro Bowl, All-Pro and any other list, seems to be their omission. They're always candidates more for the group slighted than for the actual list. Montez Sweat and Keenan Allen made the top 100 in 2024, Sweat in 82nd and Allen at 51st. And they both failed to support their status last season.

The reason for this is the same one why the Bears have failed to produce a winning season since 2018. It's not complicated.

They lack talent, and it's on the GM as well as the coaching staffs they've had who fail to develop players.

Ultimately the lists themselves mean nothing but if the Bears actually had players who deserved to be on them then it would be reflected by more games won, more postseason honors and maybe even winning Lombardi trophies.

The great hope for this now is Ben Johnson and staff can turn the player development and winning part in the right direction.

And also, it's how Johnson influences Poles. Perhaps he can point the Bears GM in the right direction.

The past draft brought some promising players to the roster like Colston Loveland and Luther Burden, but not a single one of the players they selected in the 2025 draft will be a starter. Loveland will be on the field in certain packages. Eventually Burden gets on the field in some packages. Everyone else is either a backup or not even on the roster for this year, even if they displayed talent in preseason play or training camp.

That either says their current roster and lineup have improved enough to make it difficult for players coming in to break the lineup.

Either that, or it says something else about who they drafted, like, either they aren't really that good or if they are they were players who were not really at positions of need.

Considering they're bringing in players like defensive end Isaiah Foskey, signed Tonah Kpassagnon and seem to look at every other former player Dennis Allen coached who failed to produce much, it's safe to say they lack talent.

Either way, it doesn't say much for Poles' picks and he's going to continue to need a lot of help from Johnson and staff.

More Chicago Bears News

X: BearsOnSI

Published
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.