Bear Digest

Ben Johnson delivers awesome breakdown of Chicago Bears' rebuilt offensive line

The Chicago Bears formally welcomed Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson to the team this week, and coach Ben Johnson's breakdown of how they'll improve the offensive line was awesome.
Bryan Perez|
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Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson was all business when he met with reporters at Halas Hall this week. Donning the physical appearance of a coach who's been burning the midnight oil, the NFL's highest-profile coaching hire in 2025 didn't mince words when discussing the reasoning behind the Bears' trades for All-Pro guard Joe Thuney and former Pro-Bowler Jonah Jackson.

“We want some tough, some gritty, some dirty individuals, and we feel pretty good about the two guys we got,” Johnson said from Halas Hall on Wednesday. "'Smart’ is a word that comes to mind, particularly with the interior players. We would love to have some versatility to our scheme, some multiplicity if you will. We’ve got a couple guys in the building now that we feel strongly can handle a variety of different concepts and schemes that we might want to employ each and every week."

Atlanta Falcons center Drew Dalman (67) on the field during training camp
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The Chicago Bears will introduce center Drew Dalman on Thursday as the final piece to what's been a busy trade and free-agency offensive line overhaul. Dalman was the consensus top center available on the open market, and the Bears wasted no time inking him to a three-year, $42 million deal.

Johnson knows the Bears flipped a major weakness from the 2024 season into a massive strength for his offense moving forward.

"Beyond that, their play speaks for themselves in terms of what the tape says," Johnson said. "The character, the integrity, it’s top notch. . . . Combined with the coaches that we’ve already put together for that room, I feel really good about the style of play we’ll have this year.”

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Bryan Perez
BRYAN PEREZ

Bryan Perez founded and operated Bears Talk, a Chicago sports blog. Prior to that, he covered the Bears for USA Today’s Bears Wire and NBC Sports Chicago. In addition to his Chicago Bears coverage, Perez is a respected member of NFL Draft media and was a past winner of The Huddle's Mock Draft competition. Bryan's past life includes time as a Northeast scout for the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks.

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