Bear Digest

Surprising Chicago Bears official weight gains and losses revealed

With new schemes and coaches came altered weights for players, and the Chicago Bears have plenty of changes in the official numbers listed by the team.
Gene Chamberlain|
Andrew Billings was among the big weight gainers for the Bears in the offseason conditioning program to better fit his role.
Andrew Billings was among the big weight gainers for the Bears in the offseason conditioning program to better fit his role. | Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

When defensive tackle Gervon Dexter reported for minicamp earlier this month he spoke with reporters and revealed he had added some weight.

“I’m lifting heavier, yeah. You can tell? I appreciate you," he told the questioner. "Appreciate it. Shoutout (strength and conditioning) coach Pierre (Ngo)."

No weight was given but Dexter lined up at nose tackle a lot in offseason work and had been largely a 3-technique in the past, where a player needs to be lighter for quickness required to get into the gap and upfield.

“I put on some lean mass," Dexter said. "I got a little leaner and put on a couple of pounds.”

New coaches and new systems with Ben Johnson as coach mean different players or the same players made differently. This is what has happened with the Bears through use of their strength and conditioning programs.

Now there is an accurate weight to attach to Dexter as well as other players as the team posted the weight changes on its roster. Especially on defense, the difference in some of them is striking and it reflects the different roles they'll have in the new Dennis Allen defensive scheme.

Dexter had been listed 312 pounds last year and did add a few more during the season but now he is at a mean 326 according to the Bears.

With defensive tackle Shemar Turner now on board at the 3-technique behind Grady Jarrett, the Bears have the smaller, lighter attacking tackles so Dexter becomes the attacking nose, and also can move up and down the line if necessary.

  • During OTAs, a few reporters on the sidelines remarked how Big Bill, Andrew Billings, liked like even bigger Big Bill. He is. Billings had gotten down to 311 for his role last year. Now, he's at 340. Have fun with that NFC North centers.
  • Even hulking nose tackle Jonathan Ford has added some weight, going from 338 to 346.

At the same time, defensive ends have altered their weights to help with their roles. Edges need to be a bit bigger to be stout as run stoppers in the four-man front while also being able to rush QBs.

  • Dayo Odeyingbo weighed 286 for the Colts, then dropped to 276 and has gone back up to 282.
  • The really big difference at end is in Dominique Robinson. The former wide receiver and quarterback, who converted to defense during his time in the MAC with Miami, came to the Bears at 252 in 2022. The Bears had him listed at 253 last year. Robinson has added 22 pounds to 275 and looks more like a defensive end would in the Allen defense. Robinson was one of the four players lauded for his efforts on the field by Johnson at the end of minicamp. It seems his efforts were also in the weight room.
  • Defensive end Austin Booker remains at 245, indicating the role they're looking at for him is the situational speed rusher.
  • Another interesting one is Daniel Hardy. An end in the past for the Bears, he had come to Chicago a bit light because he had been an outside linebacker in another scheme. He was at 240 last year. Now he is at 255.  The other interesting part has been how they moved him around between outside linebacker and edge rusher in OTAs. What they have in store for him now is for Allen to know and Bears fans to guess.

THE NEW BEARS WEIGHTS

2024 ROSTER AND WEIGHTS

Weights have changed at linebacker, as well.

  • The big difference is starting weakside linebacker T.J. Edwards has dropped weight from 242 to a scant 228. Someone get this guy a sandwich.
  • Stongside linebacker candidate Noah Sewell, a candidate to replace Jack Sanborn, is now 246 after being 252 last year.
  • Backup Amen Ogbongbemiga has dropped 5 pounds to 226.
  • Not much has changed drastically in the secondary, although safety Kevin Byard went up 6 pounds to 218 and Jaquan Brisker 4 pounds more. It can't hurt in a scheme where safeties will be needed to provide run support.

The Bears not only look different in the depth chart, but also on the roster now and when they get to camp it will be apparent why.

"The onus is on our players now, to take advantage of the next six weeks," Johnson said when they left for break. "They have built a lot of good will with their bodies, conditioning-wise. They're strong. We have a number of guys that lost fat mass and gained lean mass and are in great shape right now. We have to continue that trend, not just to maintain, but even keep pushing that a little bit further.

"For us, Training Camp is not a 'get in shape camp,' it's 'show up in shape camp,' so that we can become a good football team."

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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.