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What Ben Johnson Thought of a Bears Draft Without an Edge Rusher

The Chicago Bears went through a draft without adding a player at their No. 1 position of need but Ben Johnson expects there are ways to forge ahead.
Gene Chamberlain|
Ben Johnson and Ryan Poles explain the 2026 Bears draft on Saturday evening after completion.
Ben Johnson and Ryan Poles explain the 2026 Bears draft on Saturday evening after completion. | Chicago Bears On SI Photo: Chicago Bears video

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Ben Johnson and Ryan Poles have made for a formidable tandem and after Saturday's draft ended, they stood resolute.

Johnson backed his GM's draft, right down to the most controversial aspect. Obviously, this was their inability to draft a defensive end and on a broader scale the defensive line—after all, sixth-round defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg will face long odds just getting any playing time.

"I couldn't be more pleased with Ryan and his crew, these scouts," Johnson said. "They went out this fall and they collected all kinds of information and I think they absolutely nailed it.

"We found guys that fit our DNA and what we want to be about. We found it round one through Round 6 there, our last pick, and even in some of these guys we're picking up right now."

Coaching can help

The idea Poles and Johnson voiced is their questionable defensive line will improve with another year in the system.

"You would hope from Year 1 to Year 2 with this coaching staff and the personnel department, we're so much further along than we were a year ago at this time," Johnson said. "So that's what's encouraging to me and Ryan and really look forward to seeing these guys hit the grass here in a couple weeks.”

On his own end, he said the staff will coach up players to make up for any issues.

"I know we've really refined and made it a big effort here this springtime already to get the fundamentals and techniques to another level in terms of how we're teaching it and how we're coaching it," Johnson said. "And so, I think it really starts there, at least from my lens.

"I think we'll be better teachers of not only the scheme, but also just the vision of what we want our brand of football to look like. And so, in terms of the personnel side, the roster, I think we have just, like Ryan said, created competition really across the board. I really expect some of these young players that we already had in the program to take a huge jump from year one to year two of this coaching staff, and then we create a lot of competition really at every position group.”

Disciplined approach

This is relative to the edge rush, especially. Poles had said Friday as he took three offensive players that the feeling was edge rushers Shemar Turner and Dayo Odeyingbo would play big roles despite coming back from season-ending injuries. Johnson went one better and said both of those players had been showing improvement prior to their injuries.

"We are excited about the guys that ended up finishing the season on IR, the trajectory that they were on, both Dayo and Shemar," Johnson said. "When you look at it from the start of the season to the point where they both got injured, we saw growth and we saw them trending in the right direction, in terms of what we want to see on game day.

"I think (Montez) Sweat had one of his better years in the NFL. Whether that shows up in the sack total or not, he's a very complete player, both in the run game and pass game. I think you saw tremendous growth from (Austin) Booker when we were finally able to get him back (healthy), as well. The combination of us being able to coach better and those guys taking the next step as part of this system, I think we have some pretty good pieces to work with."

It's probably not fair to put Turner in the class of promising when he only had 74 plays in his rookie season before a torn ACL. As for Odeyingbo, he started eight games and had a sack and six pressures per Pro Football Reference an Stathead. It's difficult to see progress, but he suffered a torn Achilles and such an injury can take a year for recovery.

Poles gave a one-word description to his approach on the final day, as well as the first two days.

"I thought we were disciplined," he said

In other words, they didn't make huge jumps in their trades that required giving up valuable draft capital. They made small moves but didn't chase after players based on a need. They went with their rankings of players.

"Again, we've said this a few times, just following the board and the best player that was available to us," Poles said. "I think one thing that we take real seriously is each year we'll go back and review our process and review the draft and see where we could have done something a little bit different. Learn from that, and then just keep getting better as we go.

"But, I like the approach that we had. Came away with some really good players. Like I've said before, with any position, we're going to stay active, see what opportunities pop up. If we can improve our football team, we'll do it."

The guys they took can help

They did get Texas cornerback Malike Muhammad as a challenger for Tyrique Stevenson, Terell Smith and Zah Frazier. They also drafted linebacker Keyshaun Elliott from Arizona State in Round 5 and he will be needed because the recovery of linebacker Noah Sewell is uncertain at best. He also had a torn Achilles but it was in December and this makes him even less likely to be available. Rookie Rueben Hyppolite II was a disappointment last year, like Frazier, and this can make up for two possible mistakes made in last year's draft. Or perhaps those players in question bounce back in Year 2 and they have the pleasant surprise of extra depth.

With van den Berg, it's more of a long-term developmental situation.

"So, with Malik, he's someone that we talked about, (DB coach) Al (Harris), DA (defensive coordinator Dennis Allen) and I, we, like the way that he covers, we like the play style, and we think there’s room for him to continue to improve too," Poles said. "So, adding competition, we think that he can positively impact us and give us more depth early, and as he grows into something bigger, we'll see how that goes. Then Keyshaun you know, a player, that physical brand of football, has really good size, and can run, and then his ability both to play the linebacker position and also help on special teams."

The rookies made a huge impact last year on offense when there were big opportunities for them.

There should be opportunity for rookies on defense this year. There just aren't that many defensive rookies to take advantage.

There were four on defense counting starting safety candidate Dillon Thieneman in Round 1.

They're short an edge rush, or even two. Poles delivered the key sentence last.

"Like I've said before, with any position, we're going to stay active, see what opportunities pop up," Poles said. "If we can improve our football team, we'll do it."

Cameron Jordan, Jadeveon Clowney, where are you?

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Published
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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