Biggest Takeaways From Chicago Bears' First Unofficial Depth Chart of Regular Season

The Chicago Bears dropped their first unofficial depth chart for the 2026 regular season. Here are the biggest takeaways from it.

Chicago Bears offensive tackle Braxton Jones (70) walks on the field during Training Camp at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Chicago Bears are just days away from their first game of the 2026 NFL season and the team has now released its unofficial depth chart for Week 1.

We never want to say anything is set in stone, but the Bears' first depth chart of the campaign gives us the answers we were looking for at five different positions.

We'll go over those answers as we take a look at the biggest takeaways from the Bears' first unofficial depth chart of the regular season.

Braxton Jones is starting left tackle

Chicago Bears offensive tackle Braxton Jones (70) after the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Head coach Ben Johnson announced before the depth chart was released that Jones would be the team's starter at left tackle for Week 1.

However, he also noted that the evaluation would be ongoing, as is the case with all positions, which leaves the door open for Ozzy Trapilo to be inserted into that spot once he's ready to play.

When Trapilo is ready remains to be seen, though, and Johnson still isn't giving a timeline.

"He's strong, he's flexible. I don't want to put a timeline on it, but we are headed in the right direction," Johnson said of Trapilo.

The fact that Jones was named the starter is not surprising. He was clearly the front-runner throughout the offseason and with Trapilo seemingly not ready to take the field yet, it was a no-brainer to deploy the former fifth-round pick.

Kentavius Street starting at defensive tackle

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) rushes the ball past Chicago Bears defensive tackle Kentavius Street (93) during the first half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In the wake of the Bears trading Gervon Dexter, we all wondered who would replace him as the starter next to Grady Jarrett, with the common belief it would be either Jordan van den Berg or Neville Gallimore.

However, at least for now, it looks like that will be Kentavius Street, who flew under the radar for the most part throughout the offseason until defensive coordinator Dennis Allen heaped praise on him following the Dexter trade.

"Quite honestly, I think he was the most productive tackle we had throughout the course of training camp," Allen said. "He's got the suddenness and the explosiveness off the ball that we're looking for to create penetration and disrupt the line of scrimmage."

A fairly unexpected outcome, especially when you consider that Street has been a backup throughout his career. In 85 career contests, Street has just 10 starts.

When it comes to Gallimore and van den Berg, they are the backups behind Jarrett and Street, respectively.

All that said, we're expecting a pretty heavy rotation here, so van den Berg and Gallimore should still see ample snaps on a weekly basis, and of course things can change depending on performance.

Cam Lewis at slot cornerback

Chicago Bears cornerback Cam Lewis (21) during the first half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It's Lewis, not Malik Muhammad, listed as the top slot corner on the Bears' Week 1 depth chart.

This comes after Muhammad was getting the vast majority of the first-team reps at the position with Kyler Gordon and Jaylon Jones both sidelined due to injuries. Jones looked to be in line to get the job before he suffered a pair of injuries, the second of which sent him to injured reserve and led to his release via settlement.

Lewis was one of the competitors for the job during the offseason, but he was sent back to safety after the Bears lost Coby Bryant due to injury.

Lewis has 489 career snaps playing in the slot and has posted good numbers from there in those opportunities.

As for Muhammad, he's now 0-2 when it comes to landing a big role out of the gate, but he should be the next man up at both slot cornerback and CB2 if Lewis or Stevenson get hurt or struggle, so he isn't that far away from seeing the field for significant snaps.

Xavier Woods starting at safety

Chicago Bears safety Xavier Woods (23) after a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With Lewis going to the slot, the other competitor for the starting safety job, Woods, is listed as the starter next to Dillon Thieneman.

Woods was signed the first week of August as the Bears were seeing players in the secondary drop like flies.

The Louisiana Tech product is entering his 10th season in the NFL and has 121 career starts and 134 games in total under his belt, so he isn't lacking experience at all.

Dayo Odeyingbo over Austin Booker

Chicago Bears defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo (55) brings down Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Josh Johnson (11) in the first half at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Not entirely surprising considering his experience and what they have invested in him, but Odeyingbo gets the nod over Booker as Chicago's starter at edge rusher opposite Montez Sweat.

But we expect a heavy rotation between the two players until one of them emerges as a reliable pass-rusher. In an ideal world, both check that box, but we know that is far from certain to happen.

Bears' unofficial depth chart

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) hands off to running back Kyle Monangai (25) during training camp at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Here's the full depth chart exactly as the Bears have it listed:

Offense

WR: Rome Odunze, Kalif Raymond, Zavion Thomas
LT: Braxton Jones, Ozzy Trapilo
LG: Joey Thuney, Jordan McFadden
C: Garrett Bradbury, Logan Jones
RG: Jonah Jackson, Luke Newman
RT: Darnell Wright, Theo Benedet
TE: Cole Kmet, Sam Roush
TE: Colston Loveland
WR: Luther Burden, Jahdae Walker
QB: Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent, Case Keenum
RB: D'Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai, Roschon Johnson

Defense

DL: Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, Jamree Kromah
DL: Grady Jarrett, Neville Gallimore, James Lynch
DL: Kentavius Street, Jordan van den Berg, Jayden Loving
DL: Dayo Odeyingbo, Daniel Hardy
LB: T.J. Edwards, D'Marco Jackson, Keyshaun Elliott
LB: Devin Bush, Jack Sanborn
S: Dillon Thieneman, Elijah Hicks
S: Xavier Woods, Skyler Thomas
CB: Tyrique Stevenson, Clark Phillips
CB: Jaylon Johnson, Josh Blackwell

Special Teams

K: Cairo Santos
P: Tory Taylor
KO: Cairo Santos
H: Tory Taylor
LS: Beau Gardner
KR: Kalif Raymond, Zavion Thomas
PR: Kalif Raymond, Zavion Thomas