Ben Johnson made one of the first big moves of his Chicago Bears coaching tenure this week when he hired former Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen to be his defensive coordinator.
The Bears announced the hiring of Allen and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle on Tuesday but the new assistants haven’t been introduced, so reporters and fans still are waiting to hear what Allen thinks he can do with the defense he’s taking over.
Johnson made it clear in his opening remarks last week that he believes the Bears roster has talent, even saying he thought the Bears were a “sleeping giant” entering the 2024 season.
So what are Johnson and Allen inheriting on defense? We look at the positives, the issues and the questions that need to be answered less than two months before free agency.
2024 defensive rankings
- Yards allowed per game: 354.2, ranked 27th
- Points allowed per game: 21.8, 13th
- Passing yards allowed per game: 217.9, 16th
- Rushing yards allowed per game: 136.3, 28th
- Interception rate: 2.19%, 18th
- Sack rate: 7.95%, 11th
- Third-down percentage: 37.56%, 13th
- Red-zone percentage: 46.03%, second
Position of strength
Cornerback
Ben Johnson mentioned three defensive players by name in his first comments to reporters last week, and two were defensive backs: cornerback Jaylon Johnson and nickel back Kyler Gordon.
He called Gordon “a phenomenal nickel” and said the Detroit Lions didn’t want to throw the ball Johnson’s way because of how well he has been playing.
Jaylon Johnson was selected to the Pro Bowl for the second straight year in 2025. His numbers were down from his career year in 2023, but he still had two interceptions, eight passes defended, a forced fumble, 53 tackles and seven tackles for a loss.
Gordon stood out as one of the better developing defensive players on a struggling team in 2024. He didn’t have a pick but had five passes defended, a forced fumble, three fumble recoveries, 75 tackles and four tackles for a loss.
Gordon is a contract-extension candidate this offseason entering his fourth year — a topic he said late in the season he has heard a lot about from family and friends.
“I feel solid,” he said of the season. “There’s obviously more I want to do all the time. I’m trying to find production as much as I can, but, yeah, I’m continuously growing.”
Tyrique Stevenson is the wild card in the group after a second season with a very public misstep — his lapse in focus on the Washington Commanders’ winning Hail Mary — and costly penalties but also some big plays. He had two interceptions, including a pick-six, 12 passes defended, a forced fumble and 78 tackles.
Even Bears Chairman George McCaskey weighed in on the fallout from Stevenson’s actions against the Commanders, when he was interacting with the crowd as the Hail Mary play began and then was out of position on the pass.
“I had never seen anything like that as an observer of this great game for more than 60 years,” McCaskey said in early January. “I was more interested after it happened in his reaction and his teammates’ reaction. I think he understood that he made a mistake. He owned up to it. He apologized to his teammates. He apologized to the fans. And he said he was going to learn from it, and I think he did.”
The Bears also have backup Terell Smith, entering his third season, as a developing option. Ben Johnson and Allen surely would like more interceptions from this group, but overall it’s a good returning cast.
Biggest weakness
Defensive line
When Johnson considered what stood out to him about the Bears defense as the Lions offensive coordinator, he mentioned the run defense — in 2023.
The Bears led the NFL in 2023 in rushing yards allowed, but that fell off precipitously to 28th in the league in 2024 as they gave up 136.3 rushing yards per game. Johnson mentioned nose tackle Andrew Billings missing nine games with a torn pectoral muscle as one reason for the slide, though such a dip goes beyond just one player.
The good news is Billings, who is under contract for 2025, said the day after the season ended that he expects to be back around organized team activities in May.
“I’ll just get this right, get this back healthy,” he said. “It’s not going to hold me back as long as I get it back to the same strength as (the other) side. I’ll be all right.”
But the Bears had plenty of other issues on the defensive line than Billings’ absence.
They ranked 11th with a 7.95% sack percentage but didn’t have a player with more than Montez Sweat’s 5½. Second-year defensive tackle Gervon Dexter was second with five sacks, followed by linebacker T.J. Edwards’ four and defensive end DeMarcus Walker’s 3½.
General manager Ryan Poles listed Dexter among young players whose development has the Bears excited. But there’s little doubt the Bears need more depth behind him and Billings, especially considering second-year defensive tackle Zacch Pickens was a healthy scratch by the end of the season.
And, as we’ll get to next, they need much more out of the defensive end position.
Most pressing question
Will the Bears bring in another edge rusher — and get more out of Montez Sweat?
Before hiring Allen, Johnson was asked to give his defensive philosophy, and he boiled down a key tenet to one question: “How do we disrupt the opposing quarterback?”
Johnson noted there’s more than one answer, that coverage and run defense also play into how well a quarterback plays. But it starts with the pass rush, and the Bears did not get enough from their edge rushers in that regard in 2024.
That starts with Sweat, who played through some injury issues in 2024. Poles said he had a “good conversation” after the season with the sixth-year defensive end, who signed a four-year, $98 million contract extension in November 2023.
“I know he’s disappointed in himself and wants to get better,” Poles said. “I know and he knows he’s capable of much more. Also, as we continue to build the defensive line, adding more talent on that will help.
“When we looked at some of the chip numbers and the double teams, he did get a fair share of that too. And the way that you defeat that is add more talent to create more one-on-one matchups.”
Edge rusher has been on Poles’ needs list for a few offseasons now. He made the midseason 2023 trade for Sweat but has not made a big investment opposite Sweat.
In 2024, the Bears relied on Walker, Darrell Taylor and Jacob Martin to fill the role. Walker, who totaled 16 quarterback hits, is under contract for 2025. Taylor and Martin — who each had three sacks — will be free agents this offseason.
Beyond upgrading the offensive line, another edge rusher is again one of the Bears’ most pressing needs.
Other unknowns
Will safety Jaquan Brisker be able to play in his fourth season?
With so many questions for Poles around the coaching search in the last month, some roster topics weren’t fully addressed. One of those is what happened with Brisker, who suffered a concussion Oct. 6 in a game he finished against the Carolina Panthers — and then never played again in 2024.
The Bears said throughout the final three months of the season that Brisker still was recovering. But Poles said in January that Brisker and guard/center Ryan Bates, who also ended the year with a concussion, were “feeling back to themselves.” He lumped in their prognosis with Billings, cornerback Jaylon Jones and left tackle Braxton Jones, who also had surgeries.
“I’ve got faith in all those guys that they are going to be back ready to help us next year,” Poles said. “I don’t have a specific timetable for their returns, but they’re headed in the right direction.”
The Bears missed Brisker’s physicality and playmaking in the 12 games without him. It’s worth noting he has suffered at least three concussions in three seasons with the Bears.
The Bears have veteran starting safety Kevin Byard and backups Jonathan Owens and Elijah Hicks also under contract for next season.
Can we expect more splash plays from the linebackers?
Johnson called linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards “excellent ballplayers.”
“They’re quick to diagnose and react,” he said.
The Edmunds-Edwards combination hummed with playmaking potential late in the 2023 season, and the duo combined that year for seven interceptions, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.
But they each had only one interception in 2024, and Edmunds’ dip in production was notable for a player on a four-year, $72 million contract.
Former Bears defensive coordinator Eric Washington said in the final week of the season that Edmunds remained a strong communicator as the quarterback of the Bears defense but said they would like to see more splash plays. He did have eight passes defended and a forced fumble.
“Tremaine will be the first person to tell you that he would like to make some of those plays,” Washington said. “I wouldn’t characterize the way he’s played as taking a step back. You always want more production, especially from your frontline guys that are in there, and I’m sure as we move forward, we’ll find a way to get that out of him.”
Edwards was more noticeable in his consistent playmaking. He had a career-high four sacks and 12 tackles for a loss along with six quarterback hits, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.
How will Dennis Allen mesh with his new personnel?
Johnson said he never had met Allen before he was introduced as Bears head coach, but he admired Allen’s defense when the Lions played the Saints. He said Allen also came recommended by Lions coach Dan Campbell and former Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.
“Everywhere he has been along the way, they have been a top third-down team, a top red-zone team,” Johnson said. “So there are a lot of pillars about what he does schematically that would be appealing to me.”
Allen has run a 4-3 defense in the past, so that could help the transition for the players returning from Matt Eberflus’ 4-3 scheme. It will be worth watching where the Bears make roster tweaks and additions in the months ahead as Allen gets ready to implement his system in Chicago.
