Bear Digest

Bears' 2025 Rookies Did Something Never Seen in NFL History

This rookie class is already a huge hit for the Chicago Bears, and they're just getting warmed up.
Pete Martuneac|
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Chicago Bears

The 2025 NFL season could not have gone much better for the Chicago Bears. They more than doubled their win total from 2024 (from five to 11) and pulled off the challenging worst-to-first transition, clinching the 2025 NFC North championship in Week 17. Most importantly, they proved the doubters wrong: Ben Johnson was absolutely the right head coach to lead this team and develop Caleb Williams.

But a team is more than a quarterback, important though the quarterback may be. There must be a full team effort, including production from the rookies, to succeed in the NFL, and that's what Johnson has done for this team. He and his staff did a remarkable job developing their players, making the Bears' 2025 rookie class the envy of the NFL.

In fact, this rookie class was so successful that they did something that had never been seen in the NFL before. According to longtime Bears writer Larry Mayer and his "By the Numbers" article, the Bears became the first team in the Super Bowl era to have three rookies finish with at least 650 scrimmage yards apiece: Kyle Monangai (947 yards), Colston Loveland (711 yards), and Luther Burden III (689 yards).

Plenty of glory to go around for this feat

I want Bears fans to stop for a moment and try to appreciate just how enormous this accomplishment is. The Chicago Bears are famously a team that can't make it work on offense. They never have a good quarterback, they never have a dynamic receiver, and the defense always has to carry the team. But after just one year with Ben Johnson, they've achieved something no other offense has in the Super Bowl era.

As we praise Ben Johnson for his work, let's not forget about general manager Ryan Poles. He's caught a lot of flak over the years, but just about every decision he made in 2025 was a homerun. He hired Ben Johnson, he traded for Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, signed Drew Dalman, and drafted an elite rookie class. There's still a lot of work to be done, and he still makes some unwise decisions, but he laid the groundwork in 2025 for what could be a decade-plus of success for the Bears.

And, of course, the players themselves deserve credit. Monangai has already vastly outplayed his draft status as a seventh-rounder. Burden has 31 NFL general managers kicking themselves for letting him fall out of the first round. And Loveland is already on track to becoming the NFL's best tight end after he set an NFL record in the Bears' Divisional round loss to the Rams.

Some fans and analysts say that the Bears already peaked, but I think they've only scratched the surface of what they can be. The NFL should consider Chicago's 2025 season a warning shot across the bow. In 2026, the Bears will launch a full broadside into unsuspecting teams.

Ben Johnso
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Pete Martuneac
PETE MARTUNEAC

A former Marine and Purdue Boilermaker, Pete has been covering the Chicago Bears since 2022 as a senior contributor on BearsTalk. He lives with his wife, two kids and loyal dog.

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