4 burning questions for the 2025 Chicago Bears defense

We try to avoid revisiting the 2024 Chicago Bears’ season, but when we’re forced to, one of our overriding thoughts is, Whose fault was it?

Caleb Williams was sacked 68 times and nary a Chicago running back hit 1,000 years. Blame the offense.

The team allowed 6,023 yards, sixth-most in the league. Blame the defense.

Point being, it’s nobody’s fault and it’s everybody’s fault, which is why this spring, Bears GM Ryan Poles had a conundrum on his hands: Which group needs fixing the most?

The correct answer is both, but Poles could only do so much, thus a slight majority of the team’s resources went to the offensive. This means, of course, that the defense could be a tad behind their buddies on the other side of the ball.

But how far behind? Let’s discuss, shall we?

Which Defensive Positional Group Is the Most Concerning?

bears LBs Tremaine Edmunds + TJ Edwards in coverage per @NextGenStats: 25/27, 234 yards, 2 touchdowns pic.twitter.com/a8meKxwCSM
— charles (“you look good” - andy reid) mcdonald (@FourVerts) September 26, 2023

Linebacker, and it isn’t even close.

As of this writing, the only two 100% guaranteed starters are T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmumds, both of whom are coming off of productive seasons, and both of whom will need to ramp up their productivity, because, after them, the cupboard is relatively bare.

Noah Sewell looks like he’ll start alongside Edwards and Edmunds, and while he’s a perfectly useful player, he ain’t exactly Brian Urlacher. (Hell, it’s debatable whether he’s even Jack Sanborn.)

Behind Sewell, we’re looking at rookie Ruben Hyppolite II (drafted too high), Amen Ogbongbemiga (functional, but not a difference maker), Swayze Bowman (who?), and Carl Jones Jr. (also, who?)

There aren’t many great options available on the street—if Za’Darius Smith would be willing to sign on the cheap, it might be worth kicking the tires—so we’ll likely have to wait until T.J. Watt (maybe) becomes an unrestricted free agent next January.

Did Poles Do Enough to Fix the Defensive Front?

Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen is impressed with what he's seen from rookie DT Shemar Turner. https://t.co/WpUJ0v2Zw0 pic.twitter.com/chHUZDGFFw
— Bears Wire (@TheBearsWire) May 12, 2025

Almost.

Montez Sweat, Grady Jarrett, Gervon Dexter Sr., and Dayo Odeyingbo make for a nice foursome, but beyond them and backup tackle Andrew Billings, there’s concern.

If rookie Shemar Turner is a thing, they should be in decent shape. But if he’s a work-in-progress—or, heaven forbid, a bust—the trenches will be a problem.

That said, Bengals sack machine Trey Hendrickson is still making noise about wanting out of Cincy, so if Poles can somehow peel him away, problem solved.

What Happens If Jaquan Brisker Isn’t Recovered From His Concussions?

I just want to win for the city of Chicago! That’s all I think about 🙇🏽‍♂️ so soon 🏹🏹
— Quanny B. (@JaquanBrisker) May 9, 2025

Chicago’s 2025 defensive secondary doesn’t look that much different than Chicago’s 2024 secondary, and we know how that worked out. So if Brisker is sidelined for any length of time, we’ll have a lather, rinse, repeat situation on our hands.

However, if Quanny B. regains his health and form, the D-backfield will be a solidly average unit. And after last season’s performance, average sounds just fine.

Will Montez Sweat Rediscover His Mojo?

Montez Sweat is highly over paid and overrated
— Dustin Jones (@krafdFSCS) May 7, 2025

A deep-ish dive into Sweat’s career stats tells us that his 12.5-sack campaign in 2023 was an outlier, as he hasn’t topped nine sacks either before or since. So if mojo means exceeding his career average of 7.8 sacks, then sure, we’ll consider that a rediscovery.

This all is somewhat contingent on Jarrett and Odeyingbo. If Jarrett can turn back the clock (dude’s 32) and if Odeyingbo can play up to his contract (three years, $48 million), Sweat will have a shot at eight-plus takedowns. But if the newcomers underperform, kiss Sweat’s mojo b'bye.