Bear Digest

Five burning Bears questions awaiting Ben Johnson's answers

Bears coach Ben Johnson and GM Ryan Poles will reveal a little more about their plans when they speak to media at the scouting combine and there are issues to resolve.
Gene Chamberlain|
Grooming Caleb Williams would be easier if the Bears had someone working closely with him who actually had done this with a young passer.
Grooming Caleb Williams would be easier if the Bears had someone working closely with him who actually had done this with a young passer. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The obvious challenges are ahead of the Bears and Ben Johnson.

Building an offensive line to protect Caleb Williams rates as one, right with whether Williams himself picks up the offense. Making sure the same line is capable of resuscitating the running attack is another

Then there is figuring out what's needed to stop the run and to rush the passer more effectively and going after all of this March 10 as well as in the draft.

However, there are always underlying problems or more accurately potential problems in some cases.

These are issues fermenting or bubbling up in the background. They might not amount to much now but eventually could.

They also are issues that can't be addressed at the outset of free agency and in the draft because of more pressing personnel problems.

In some cases, these concerns can eventually become so big they could take down the team.

Some of those percolated and exploded on Matt Eberflus last year, namely his own inept handling of late-game situations. He had a long history of defenses blowing leads and it ultimately imploded.

Here are five burning Bears issues capable of generating great angst. Some lead to more quesitons.

5. More happy returns?

Of the 33 return men with at least 10 kick returns last year, the only one older than Bears returner DeAndre Carter was Pittsburgh's Cordarrelle Patterson, the former Bear. It's a young man's game, although Carter did a pretty fair job with it by finishing fifth in kick return average among those with at least 10 tries.

There were no punt returners who averaged one per game and were as old as Carter.

Are they bringing him back as an old man returner or are they saying he aged out? Then does it become a matter of finding a kick returner and punt returner or can they find one who does both?

Last year they put Josh Blackwell in on punt returns and got the return of the year but they're not going to get 94-yard returns on fakes every week and Blackwell only averaged 8.7 yards on the other six returns without benefit of DJ Moore acting like he was fielding a punt on the opposite side of the field.

Tyler Scott made eight kick returns and was slightly above average at 25.6 a return.

They need return help. It's uncommon for players to pick up this role immediately and if you find someone who does both like Carter, then you might even free up a roster spot.

Maybe they bring Carter back just for this one duty.

4. Unsafe safeties

The Jaquan Brisker concussion last season is only a piece of this because any player can be an injury concern, but the three concussions in three years and a season-ender last year make his availability a potential issue.

At 100% health, Brisker would be an ideal fit for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's system based on past schematic tendencies. Brisker is mobile, capable of causing havoc in numerous places on he field and can play with speed and tenacity.

The problem is Allen's defenses place a good deal of physical stress on the safeties. They need to account for the back but at times he'll have them up near the line or showing different looks near the line to smother running plays and break up developing screens. They are key cogs.

And it's not just Brisker.

Kevin Byard performed admirably last season and it should have been expected because when he had offseason time to prepare for the task at hand he had always been among the NFL's best safeties. But the year before he struggled after being traded to the Eagles at midseason. It's not easy picking up everything on the fly and he was much better in Chicago after his full offseason to digest the defense and then lead the secondary.

Now, however, at age 32 he'll be in a scheme that often relies on man-to-man coverage rather than the zone they relied on last year. Can a safety his age cover all the ground and be in single-high coverage if necessary?

The Bears have the means to address safety in the middle part of the draft, but would they do it considering all of their issues on the offensive and defensive lines and running back?

3. Square pegs

This applies mostly on defense but could at tight end on offense and even running back.

The coaches talk a lot about fitting their scheme to the talent but at some point this isn't true. There will be specific qualifies some offensive players possess or don't possess to run plays Johnson wants to run.

On defense it's even more likely considering Allen's defensive tackles who worked out the best were around 305 pounds or less but when they had the 320-pound variety they struggled stopping the run. They need the quicker, smaller DTs into the hole.

The same is true at end, where his edge rushers were all 261 pounds or heavier for his last 6 1/2 seasons.

2. Downsizing

This is the huge issue discussed by many when the Bears hired Johnson. It's kind of a moot point because they were hiring him anyway, but he's used to calling plays based on having one of the best offensive lines in the league. Now, they might be among the worst.

Can the Johnson offense operate without the dominant blockers, or at least until a dominant line develops?

1. QB development

They brought Ben Johnson in to turn around the offense. This requires developing Caleb Williams because he was such a raw QB last year.

No one even knows if Johnson can develop a quarterback. They know he's a play caller and designer but he was a tight ends coach before he took over an offense with veteran Jared Goff.

His offensive coordinator, Declan Doyle, is younger than a lot of QBs in the league and was in Denver last year when Sean Payton successfully broke in Bo Nix. But Doyle was tight ends coach, not a QB coach.

J.T. Barrett is QB coach but his experience along these lines was working with Goff since 2022 and not turning a rookie or second-year passer into the starter.

They did bring Matt Aponte on board last week as quarterback coaching assistant and he has at least worked with young QBs--really young ones at San Diego University.

Then there is Press Taylor, the passing game coordinator who has been involved with young passers like Carson Wentz, Jalen Hurts and Trevor Lawrence.

How much of this Taylor can do as passing game coordinator remains to be seen.

After all, last year Williams said he hadn't even talked with Bears passing game coordinator Thomas Brown until they fired Shane Waldron and handed play calling over to Brown.

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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.