4 Chicago Bears takeaways from the 2025 NFL Draft

The rest of Chicago’s draft class was filled out with a couple of trench guys (OL Ozzy Tapilo and DL Shemar Turner), an athletic on-the-D.L. defender (Ruben Hyppolite II), and a speedy ballhawk (Zah Frazier), all of whom might or might not contribute next season. That said, Poles has a history of uncovering late-round gems—Braxton Jones and Terell Smith, most notably—so anything’s possible.

All in all, this might not have been a dream draft, but it repaired a few holes and improved some positions, so, yeah, it might be what the Midway Monsters needed.

Here are four big-picture takeaways from the Chicago Bears’ draft weekend:

1) This Is Ben Johnson’s Team

During the Matt Eberflus regime, would Ryan Poles have used his first two picks on skill players?

Hells no.

Flus is a defense-first coach—plus he’s a terrible big-picture guy—so it’s likely that if he were still Chicago’s sideline general, we might’ve seen a Mykel Williams or a Walter Nolen strolling into Halas Hall.

But Johnson’s imprint is all over Chicago’s 2025 draft class:

• You’ve got the tight end who’s out of the Sam LaPorta mold.

• You’ve got the receiver who, production-wise, could land somewhere in between Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.

• And you’ve got a behemoth of an offensive trench guy who, if he’s slightly more athletic than we believe, could be a problem in the NFC North for years.

Poles had input into the draft choices, of course, but one could guess that Johnson made some, if not all of the final offensive calls.

2) Caleb Williams Has Almost Everything He Needs

After the 2024 NFL Draft, it was said that Caleb Williams was, at least in terms of his wide receiver room, walking into the best situation ever for a rookie quarterback picked at one.

On paper, that was correct. In reality, not so much.

Williams was hamstrung by a lousy offensive line and garbage playbook; in that system, not even prime Tom Brady would’ve survived. But coming out of this draft, Williams has no more excuses.

In Johnson, the USC product has an innovative, successful play caller who will scheme to his strengths. He also has a pair of quality tight ends in Loveland and Cole Kmet; a loaded wide receiver group in D.J. Moore, Rome Oduzne, and Burden; and a revamped offensive line anchored by new veteran acquisitions Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman, and Jonah Jackson.

At this point, if Williams doesn’t produce, it’s on him. Or the lack of a legit RB1. To that end…

3) The Staff Is All-In On D’Andre Swift

Poles might or might not have been able to trade up for Jeanty, but either way, he didn’t. He also had the option to deal up in the second round to grab either TreVeyon Henderson or Quinshon Judkins, and he also didn’t.

Swift was wildly underwhelming in 2024, so hopefully Poles and Johnson know something we don’t.

4) We’re In For a Bunch of Track Meets

Outside of running back, the Bears are set at the skill positions, and if Williams looks more generational than he did during his rookie season, a consistent 28 points scored a week isn’t unrealistic.

For its part, the defense made some improvements, but they won’t be a lock-down unit, so a consistent 28 points allowed a week also isn’t unrealistic.

So I guess the Bears will have to shoot to score 29. And considering how his draft landed, Ben Johnson might just be able to make that happen.