Bears OTAs Exposed Early Winners, Losers and a Few Growing Problems

Chicago Bears OTAs already produced clear winners and losers, with Caleb Williams rising, Tyrique Stevenson slipping and key roster battles taking shape.

Chicago Bears defensive back Dillon Thieneman. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Chicago Bears will continue with the second leg of their OTAs this week, but before they get back to business on Tuesday, we're taking a look back at the week that was.

The Bears will return to the practice field on June 2 and will hold a total of three sessions through June 4. One of those sessions will be open to the media, so we'll get more clips and reviews of how players looked during practice, as well as more injury updates.

For now, we're highlighting the players who came out of the first week of OTAs as the biggest winners and losers.

Winner: Caleb Williams

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Williams connected on three impressive deep balls during the open OTAs practice on Thursday.

Those connections came on passes to Rome Odunze, Zavion Thomas and D'Andre Swift, and all three showed Williams' immense arm talent.

67 yards in the air. In case you were wondering.

— Case Keenum (@casekeenum) May 29, 2026

And those were three reminders of why there is so much hype for Williams, and why he can be a very special talent if he can just fine tune his game.

Loser: Tyrique Stevenson

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf and Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Stevenson's quest to get his starting job back in the wake of the departure of Nahshon Wright is not off to a good start.

Stevenson was the victim on two of those aforementioned deep-ball connections from Williams to his pass-catchers. Not only was Stevenson beaten by Odunze, the rookie Thomas got the better of him, also.

It's still early, but the veteran needs to get himself on track or else he could find himself as a backup once again as rookie Malik Muhammad looks to challenge him this offseason.

Winner: Zavion Thomas

Chicago Bears wideout Zavion Thomas. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Thomas' long touchdown catch went for over 50 yards and displayed his elite speed in the process.

Heard y'all wanted the @ftfzayy_ catch 👀 pic.twitter.com/XrC8eLZHos

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) May 29, 2026

CHGO Bears' Mark Carman labeled Thomas as the "star of the day" after his standout play.

"Zavion Thomas star of the day," Carman wrote. "A+. Hauled in a 50-yard plus missle from Caleb down left sideline. Speed."

If Thomas keeps making plays like that this offseason, the Bears will have no choice but to wedge him into the offense, even if he struggles to learn the playbook quickly.

Loser: Dillon Thieneman

Chicago Bears defensive back Dillon Thieneman. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

This is the softest "loser" label we will ever hand out.

Thieneman has widely been viewed as a Day 1 starter for Chicago, but it's clear the Bears are making him earn it by having the Oregon product running with the twos early on.

Thieneman also had an opportunity to make a head-turning play on Thursday, but he squandered it by dropping an interception, which the rook promptly paid for by doing push-ups.

Winner: Luther Burden

Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III. | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

When it comes to offseason hype trains, Burden's might be the most robust — and he has his head coach to thank for that.

Ben Johnson has been praising his young wideout all offseason long, and that continued when the Bears head coach addressed the media before the second practice of OTAs.

“I’m buying Luther Burden stock right now,” Johnson said. “Just how he’s approached his offseason, it’s been electric.”

“When we drafted him, we saw an explosive athlete who was really dangerous with the ball in his hands. The question was how can we get it in his hands?” Johnson added. “The easy things to do are screens or short throws, but I think there’s a lot more to his game that we’ve worked on. He’s been really receptive to how we can get that done. He ran a route (Wednesday). It was the first time he had run that route, and he ran it as well as I’ve been around, so things like that really get you excited as a coach.”

Another reason to be high on Burden ahead of 2026 is the fact that he's guaranteed to see more opportunities now that DJ Moore has been shipped off to the Buffalo Bills.

For our fantasy football folks out there, get you some Luther Burden this year.

Loser: Kyler Gordon

Chicago Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon. | David Banks-Imagn Images

It's not that Gordon did anything bad on the field, it's that he wasn't able to take part in practice because of injury.

Earlier this month, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reported that Gordon was dealing with a soft-tissue injury, a story we've seen far too many times during the veteran's career.

It would appear that Gordon is still dealing with that injury, as he did not take part fully in practice on Thursday.

We normally wouldn't be too concerned about an injury in May, but considering his injury history and the fact that he appeared in just three games last season because of injury, it's a different story for Gordon.

Winner: Garrett Bradbury

New England Patriots center Garrett Bradbury. | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

We've pegged Bradbury as the favorite to win the starting center job over rookie Logan Jones and the first week of OTAs did nothing to change that.

Johnson not only noted how Bradbury impressed on Day 1, but he also lauded the veteran for his communication and expressed his trust in how Bradbury will handle his duties as a center.

"A guy like Garrett Bradbury impressed Day 1, just with the level of communication that he brings to the table," Johnson stated. "He's loud, he's demonstrative. I know that he's going to be able to get all five guys on the same page."

Having a center who can play at a starting-caliber level while also properly handling the operation of all of his duties is huge and it's clear Bradbury is capable of checking those boxes.