The 2025 NFL draft is in the books, and the Chicago Bears added eight new players plus a handful of undrafted free-agent signees.
So where is the Bears roster strongest (and weakest)? And are they done making additions at certain positions. The Tribune’s Brad Biggs sorts it all out in his weekly Bears mailbag.
Are the Bears in on Nick Chubb or J.K. Dobbins? — @chitowndrew23
By an overwhelming majority, the most popular question this week centered on the backfield and the chance the Bears will add Chubb, Dobbins or someone else to the mix. This strikes me as a fluid situation, but it’s probably a little early to dip back into free agency or the discard pile. You have to imagine the coaching staff wants to spend some time working with the running backs on the roster before making any evaluations.
Here’s what the Bears have on the roster: D’Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson, seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai, Travis Homer and Ian Wheeler. Even if Wheeler, who suffered a torn ACL in August, is cleared before training camp starts, this looks like a position where another body will be needed for the grind of camp and the preseason. That could range from a known veteran with NFL experience to an undrafted rookie free agent.
Coach Ben Johnson has been very upbeat about working with Swift again after their time together in Detroit, and with an improved offensive line, Swift and the rest of the backs should look better. Johnson never really got a chance last season, and I think the front office still would like to see him get a chance to stick. Homer’s roster spot is relatively secure because of his role on special teams. The Bears obviously want to see what Monangai, a two-time captain and workhorse at Rutgers, can do. So, barring unforeseen injuries, any player the Bears sign likely would have to beat out Johnson or Monangai because they’re unlikely to carry more than four running backs on the 53-man roster.
Monangai isn’t the kind of back who will wow folks in a T-shirt and shorts. He’s a physical runner and he’ll need to be in live action with pads on for his abilities to stand out. Wheeler will be in the mix when he’s cleared, and as you know, the Bears were high on Johnson when they drafted him in the fourth round in 2023.
Chubb could be on a short list of current free agents, but I’d be leery of his physical condition. He suffered a bad knee injury early in the 2023 season and reportedly required two surgeries to repair a torn ACL, MCL, medial capsule and meniscus. Credit to the four-time Pro Bowl selection for returning to the Cleveland Browns midway through the 2024 season and playing in eight games, carrying 102 times for 332 yards (3.3 average) and three touchdowns. He was knocked out of the Week 15 game with a broken foot.
Chubb turns 30 in December and has been a high-volume player with 1,340 NFL carries. His best days are behind him, and because of his age and the severity of the knee injury, I’m not sure he’s the fit the Bears would be seeking if they’re in the market for a back.
Dobbins, who is three years younger than Chubb, would make more sense. He has had health issues, too, with two knee injuries and an Achilles injury limiting him to nine games over three seasons from 2021 to 2023. However, he played in 13 games for the Los Angeles Chargers last season and carried 195 times for 905 yards (4.6 average) with nine touchdowns. He’s also more versatile out of the backfield than Chubb.
Dobbins is probably the best running back on the market after the Chargers effectively replaced him with first-round pick Omarion Hampton. Other available backs include Gus Edwards, Cam Akers, Jamaal Williams, Jeff Wilson and Joshua Kelly.
It’s a buyer’s market and more running backs will come loose between now and roster cuts. There were 25 running backs drafted, and some of those will claim spots that cost other players jobs. While it’s a fluid situation, as I stated, I don’t think there’s a reason to act now knowing more backs will be available.
Is a potential Breece Hall trade in the works? — @tanner23062
I don’t see how moving Hall after the draft makes sense for the New York Jets or makes them better. Had they chosen a running back high in the draft, maybe something could have materialized, but they didn’t. They chose right tackle Armand Membou at No. 7 and are looking to have a sturdy running game featuring Hall and quarterback Justin Fields.
Hall has been good for the Jets but has yet to have a 1,000-yard season in three years. I’m skeptical they would make him available at this point, and with Hall entering the final year of his contract, the Jets would be selling him for pennies on the dollar if they did.
In an edge-heavy draft, do you think the Bears passed on all of them because they’re convinced Austin Booker will grow into a star? — Mike G.
I wouldn’t take that leap, but I would say of the players already on the roster, Booker was one of the real winners at the conclusion of the draft. Does this mean he’s assured anything? Of course not. But there’s a clear path to playing time for the 2024 fifth-round pick if he plays well.
Booker doesn’t turn 23 until December and was viewed as a little raw when the Bears selected him. If he benefits from the 283 snaps he played last season, there’s a chance he can step forward and be more productive. He has proved to be a maximum-effort player, but after a solid preseason, he faded pretty quickly. He struggled to win one-on-one and wasn’t very impactful as a rusher. He’ll need a better rush plan and greater execution in his second season and perhaps he’ll return stronger.
An awful lot of hand-wringing is going on over the depth chart at edge, running back (as detailed above) and safety. It’s April. NFL rosters are always fluid and we’ve already seen a handful of teams release players after the draft. More will become available and I’d bet top dollar the Bears are keeping an eye on the situation while tweaking their short lists at every position. Trust me when I tell you they’re keeping closer tabs on this than you and I are. I’d keep running back, safety and defensive end on the radar as positions where they might consider an addition.
Which positional groups do you feel are the strongest and weakest going into training camp? — @93millmilesaway
The Bears look pretty good at defensive tackle, and that’s a positive after they struggled defending the run last season even before nose tackle Andrew Billings’ season-ending injury. Billings’ return along with Grady Jarrett, Gervon Dexter, second-round pick Shemar Turner, Chris Williams, Zacch Pickens and Jonathan Ford gives them both depth and talent with a nice blend of veterans and younger players.
They’re also very strong at wide receiver with DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, second-round pick Luther Burden III and a host of other newcomers, including Olamide Zaccheaus, Devin Duvernay and Miles Boykin. The tight end group with Cole Kmet, first-round pick Colston Loveland and Durham Smythe is talented and well-rounded.
You can come up with questions at a number of positions. Who projects to be the strong-side linebacker in the 4-3 base defense? Jack Sanborn, who departed in free agency, played 235 snaps last season (22%), and I’d only be guessing as to who will be the first man up. We’ve been over some of the questions at running back. If Austin Booker isn’t the third defensive end, that’s a real question. While a lot of folks have glossed over Elijah Hicks’ experience as a reserve safety, you can wonder about the depth there. The offensive line has more talent and depth, but we can’t say who the left tackle is.
I guess running back and defensive end — because we don’t know who will be the third player in the rotation — would be the weakest right now. Keep in mind, the depth chart probably will look a little different before training camp opens.
Who is the starting left tackle Week 1? — @brendo120
That’s a real unknown and a question one would imagine the Bears hope to have an answer for before the preseason starts. Braxton Jones’ recovery from ankle surgery clouds the situation. If he’s ready to go at the start of training camp, he’s probably right in the mix.
One question the Bears have to answer — and there are a bunch — is how do they get their best five linemen on the field. If we agree that left guard Joe Thuney, center Drew Dalman, right guard Jonah Jackson and tackle Darnell Wright are four of their best five, it’s a little easier to play the guessing game. In that case, Jones, Kiran Amegadjie and maybe Wright are options at left tackle, with Wright and second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo the choices at right tackle.
Would the Bears be comfortable with Wright on the left side? He played some there at Tennessee but was primarily a right tackle in college, and the Bears drafted him to play on the right side. Is Trapilo potentially significantly better at right tackle than Jones or Amegadjie is at left tackle? In that scenario, perhaps Wright plays left tackle and Trapilo starts at right tackle. I don’t think Wright would be in his best position at left tackle, but maybe he’d take to it naturally.
That’s a long way of saying it’s premature to do anything but guess who will be the left tackle in Week 1.
With Grady Jarrett and Shemar Turner as three techniques, any sense in moving Gervon Dexter to nose behind Andrew Billings? He’s got the size and his lack of get-off arguably won’t be as big of a liability. — Hunter, Northwest Indiana
I think we could see Dexter lining up at both positions on the interior. He has the flexibility to do that and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen likes to get creative, so being able to move Dexter around at different times would be beneficial. The Bears have nice depth at defensive tackle, maybe the best they’ve had at that position in some time.
Do you think the Bears would consider trying LB Ruben Hyppolite at safety? Sort of a reverse Brian Urlacher? Ran 4.39 at his pro day. — Joe F., Traverse City, Mich.
It wouldn’t be a post-draft mailbag without a question about a position change. I think that scenario is unlikely. If Hyppolite clicks — and the fourth-round pick has a lot to prove moving to the NFL — he has the kind of speed to make him a quality weak-side linebacker with excellent range. There are questions about his instinct in coverage, and your typical safety has better change of direction. He profiles as a guy the Bears hope can make an impact right away on special teams.
Why is the new stadium only going to hold 65,000 fans when Chicago is the third-biggest market in the country? The fact that Tennessee will have as big a stadium as Chicago is embarrassing, not to mention that it’s a copy and paste of Las Vegas and Tennessee with some changes. — @angusnegrin
For starters, there haven’t been any final plans for a new stadium the Bears hope to build in Arlington Heights, Chicago or who knows where. But the general number I have heard is somewhere in the mid- to high 60,000s. I’ve tackled this issue previously, but it has been a while. Here’s what Marc Ganis, the president of Sportscorp and an adviser to teams and the NFL on stadiums, told me when I asked him about this topic in 2022.
“I would think high 60s would be the right number,” Ganis said. “There’s an odd cost factor associated with the geometry of the stadium. The most expensive seats to construct are the seats that are furthest away from the field as you expand the building. As you increase the capacity, you have to increase the size of the entire building. So you add five rows at the top of the stadium to add another few thousand seats. Those are the most expensive seats to build while being the seats that generate the lowest revenue.
“Is it 66,000? 69,000? Do they have the ability to have standing room to get it to 72,000? That is the general range.”
