Bear Digest

7 Chicago Bears bold predictions for the 2025 NFL season

Alan Goldsher|
Bears Nation expects big things from Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze. But in terms of prognosticating the sophomores' exact level of production, how bold is Bears Nation willing to get?
Bears Nation expects big things from Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze. But in terms of prognosticating the sophomores' exact level of production, how bold is Bears Nation willing to get? | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

There’s a whole lot about the 2025 Chicago Bears that we don’t know.

  • We don’t know yet know their 53-man roster.
  • We don’t yet know their starting 22.
  • Heck, we don’t even know in which weeks they’ll be wearing their neon orange unis.

But that won’t stop us from dropping a flock of bold predictions. Because when it comes to bold predictions, knowledge is kind of overrated.

1) Caleb Williams Will Finish Top-Four in Rushing Yards for Quarterbacks

Last season, toiling in a series of offensive schemes that can best be described as “garbage,” the rookie quarterback rushed for 489 yards, ranking him seventh in the league. Now seventh place might seem kinda meh, but 43 more yards would’ve put him in fifth—ahead of MVP Josh Allen.

Taking into account Chicago’s revamped O-line and the inclusion of a Ben Johnson scheme that isn’t garbage, there’s no reason to think Williams can’t add 100 more yards to his 2024 total—and 589 would’ve landed him in fourth place.

2) Roschon Johnson Will Rush For More Yards Than D’Andre Swift

As Chicago’s undisputed top back in 2024, Swift couldn’t top 1,000 yards, a crime in the 17-game era. Aside from a few nifty plays off of screen passes, Swift did absolutely nothing to inspire confidence in his ability to be, y’know, good.

Ben Johnson won’t stand for that, and will not hesitate to throw Roschon into the starting lineup. If Ben gives Roschon the touches, it would stand to reason that he’ll get the yards.

3) Rome Odunze Will Lead the Bears in Receptions…

Odunze and Williams weren’t always on the same page last year, but that can be blamed on (A) their respective rookie-ness, (B) a Swiss cheesy offensive line, and (C) the aforementioned garbage offensive scheme.

But the Washington product is a gym rat, and will roll into training camp armed with new moves and stickier hands, all of which will lead to more opportunities and fewer drops, all of which will lead to 110-plus receptions.

4) …But D.J. Moore Will Lead the Bears in Receiving Yards

Odunze is supposed to be the downfield guy, and rookie Luther Burden III has some fast feet of his own, but D.J. Moore is D.J. Moore, and he possesses the speed and smarts to get plenty of separation anytime he damn well pleases.

He’ll have nearly as many catches as Odunze, but he’ll break a couple more big ones, so he’ll have the edge in yards. A slight edge, but an edge nonetheless.

5) Tyrique Stevenson Will Lose His Starting Job…Then Get Cut

Yes, Stevenson apologized for his boneheaded on-field peacocking that lost the Bears a key game in Washington last year, a game that, it could be argued, derailed the entire season.

Stevenson ain’t exactly Jalen Ramsey, so if he doesn’t perform well in the first quarter of the season, well, let’s just say we can all agree that defensive coordinator Dennis Allen isn’t the kind of guy to put up with nonsense.

Guess what: Stevenson won’t perform well in the first quarter of the season, and Dennis Allen won’t put up with nonsense. So come November, we might be waving Tyrique bye-bye.

6) Ruben Hyppolite III Will Rack Up Five-Plus Sacks

By many accounts, since the rookie out of Maryland decamped at Halas Hall, he’s been flashing the kind of athleticism that made him a surprise fourth-round pick at this spring’s NFL Draft.

Being that he’s currently listed as a starter on the depth chart—and being that he’s considerably faster than incumbents Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards—he’ll have plenty of opportunity to create some backfield disruption.  

7) Five Chicago Bears Will Make the Pro Bowl

The Bears head into the season with a handful of reliable veterans both new and old (Joe Thuney, Jaylon Johnson, Moore, Edmunds, Edwards) as well as a flock of up-and-comers (Williams, Odunze, Colston Loveland) and some interesting special teams pieces (Tory Taylor, Devin Duvernay).

If the team wins somewhere between eight and ten games—which, as things currently stand, feels about right—well, suffice it to say that Pro Bowl voters oftentimes have a healthy appreciation for franchise turnarounds.

And if the turnaround comes to fruition, there’ll be a whole bunch of Midway Monsters having some postseason flag football fun.

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Alan Goldsher
ALAN GOLDSHER

Alan Goldsher has written about sports for Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Apple, Playboy, NFL.com, and NBA.com, and he’s the creator of the Chicago Sports Stuff Substack. He’s the bestselling author of 15 books, and the founder/CEO of Gold Note Records. Alan lives in Chicago, where he writes, makes music, and consumes and creates way too much Bears content. You can visit him at http://www.AlanGoldsher.com and http://x.com/AlanGoldsher.

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