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Top 26 Chicago Bears of 2026: Kalif Raymond an Ideal Fit in Multiple Ways

Kalif Raymond helps solve a Bears problem with heir receiver corps, their special teams issues and provides familiarity for coach Ben Johnson.
Gene Chamberlain|
Kalif Raymond should be more than a backup receiver for Ben Johnson based on his past usage.
Kalif Raymond should be more than a backup receiver for Ben Johnson based on his past usage. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

System familiarity counts for plenty in the NFL, especially with backup players.

It's a huge reason Kalif Raymond figures prominently into Bears plans after being discarded by the Detroit Lions. This is hardly the only reason Raymond ranks No. 23 among the top 26 Chicago Bears of 2026 for Chicago Bears On SI.

Sure, Ben Johnson has brought in an experienced veteran player who played a complementary role within his Lions offenses to help replace Olamide Zaccheaus, but this is far more than a familiar face.

“I don't want to compare those two players, but I do have a history with Kalif and, you wouldn't know looking at him right now that he's 31, going on 32," Johnson said during minicamp.

"He has this vertical push to his game where he comes raging off the football, and if you're a DB you can't help but back up and that carries over with all the routes that he runs.

"I think it's been really good for our young route runners to see because it's really what we want to see across the board. So, he's been exactly what we hoped for when he came into the building."

Johnson's Lions offense loved Raymond

The Lions recognized the quickness factor immediately in Raymond before Johnson even ran their offense. He went from a career high of 15 targets with Tennessee to 71 in 2021 with Detroit. Over three years, they fed Raymond the ball enough to get him 130 receptions in his first three years, before his usage fell off in Johnson's final season due to an injury and also the addition of Lions receiver help.

Go back to last season's end and you'll discover why Johnson really likes Raymond and didn't want to compare him with Zaccheaus, who went to Atlanta in free agency. In the three seasons Raymond played within Johnson's offense, he dropped only two passes. Zaccheaus had two games last year when he dropped that many, and the first thing Johnson promised after the season was receivers working on their hands because there were too many drops. Bringing in Raymond makes complete sense in that regard.

Raymond's specialty was running underneath routes after Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown cleared out space. In Detroit, he never averaged over 10 yards for depth of target but still averaged 12.8 yards per reception. His 5.5 yards after the catch showed his foot quickness, although he's not necessarily going to beat teams deep very often.

The Bears figure to lean more heavily in his direction until rookie speedster Zavion Thomas picks up the offense and the pro game better. As a result, Thomas might look more like the third wide receiver than the fourth one earlier in the year.

"He's not a gadget guy, but he's unique in his ability to have enough speed to take it over the top, make defenses hurt that way, but also inside the numbers, outside the numbers, he's got elite quickness," Johnson said. "You get the ball in his hands, he's excellent in run after catch. So he's very, very versatile and I think he's going to be a huge part of what we do.”

With that kind of quickness off the snap, it's no wonder Detroit used Raymond on 22 rushing attempts for158 yards, mostly carrying on end-arounds or backward throws.

Potential for big returns from this move

The bonus the Bears get is an experienced and successful punt returner who has also returned kicks but with much less frequency.

The Bears replaced a former All-Pro return man in Devin Duvernay with a two-time All-Pro return man who can also contribute much more on offense than Duvernay did. Raymond averaged 11.3 yards per punt return for Detroit and twice went over 13 yards a return. The Bears got a healthy 11.0 yards per return from Duvernay last year but it's been since Jakeem Grant in 2021 that they had a better average.

They haven't had anyone who reached 13 yards a return like Raymond has doine since Hall of Famer Devin Hester. Getting the kick return situation solved will be their chore in training camp, and it wouldn't be shocking if Raymond even handles a few of those because he did it on occasion in Detroit.

Expect that to fall more to Thomas or another younger player. There will be plenty of other ways for Johnson to dream up uses for a reliable, familiar weapon like Raymond.

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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.

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