Bears banking on health, better coaching to improve pass rush
LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Upon learning what it would cost to acquire five-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby last month, Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles was OK sitting out those sweepstakes. Improving a Bears pass rush that ranked 22nd in sacks (35) and 29th in pressure percentage (28%) was discussed publicly as a top priority, but only at a certain price.
Sending two first-round picks to the Las Vegas Raiders, which the Baltimore Ravens did before backing out of the trade on March 10, was a nonstarter for the Bears. Poles and coach Ben Johnson were optimistic the Bears would find a path towards improving the team's weak link that wouldn't be so costly.
Armed with a late first-rounder in the NFL draft, the Bears could have reshaped the outlook of their defense and the franchise's priorities with one move. In the last 14 years, Chicago had drafted a first-round edge rusher only twice: Shea McClellin in 2012 and Leonard Floyd in 2018.
But instead of using the No. 25 pick to improve their pass rush, the Bears found it more beneficial to address the back end of their defense by drafting Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman, a Day 1 starter opposite newcomer Coby Bryant.
"If you help the secondary, you know, they're related to a degree," Poles said after drafting Thieneman. "Obviously the D-line helps the back end more often than not. But in this situation where, we have good corners, good safeties, we can be in a position where maybe we can have the quarterback hold the ball a little longer."
By the time the draft was over, only one of Chicago's seven draft picks was used on the defensive line, and not until the team's final pick when Georgia Tech defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg was selected 213th overall.
"We're certainly going to coach better than what we did a year ago," Johnson said. "It starts there. We've made a concerted effort with how we're going to get that done. We were excited about the guys that ended up finishing the season on IR, the trajectory that they were on, both Dayo [Odeyingbo] and Shemar [Turner]. 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 the right direction in terms of what we want to see on game day.
"[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 run game and pass game. And you saw tremendous growth from [Austin] Booker when we were able to get him back as well. The combination of us being able to coach better and those guys taking the next step as part of this system, we've got some pretty good pieces to work with."
While Sweat logged a double-digit sack total (10) for the second time in his career, the Bears are once again searching for his complement at defensive end.
After signing a three-year, $48 million free agent deal, Odeyingbo's 2025 season was cut short with an Achilles injury. In eight starts, the pricey addition logged one sack, and the strongest praise around his play was Odeyingbo's efforts against the run, not what he was doing to get after opposing quarterbacks.
An extended stint on injured reserve delayed Booker's 2025 debut until Week 9 but culminated with the former fourth-rounder totaling 12 QB hits and 4.5 sacks. The Bears had planned to play Booker at defensive end and move Odeyingbo inside on passing downs to generate more push from the interior, but injury halted that strategy. The Bears relied on defensive tackles Gervon Dexter Sr. (career-high six sacks) and Grady Jarrett, but the disruptive force the team had hoped for on the interior was still lacking.
And then there's Turner, a player whose inside-outside versatility led the Bears to draft him 62nd overall in 2025. An ankle injury sustained in training camp delayed his debut until Week 3, and by the time his season ended with a torn ACL in Week 8, the former rookie totaled just two tackles for loss in five games.
The Bears have chalked up many of their struggles up front to injury and will rely on the improvement they witnessed during the back half of the season from the likes of Dexter and Booker to carry over to improved play across the D-line.
"We feel good about those guys," Poles said. "What that group is and what they're becoming, and we feel like there is some developmental upside and like I said, with Year 2 in the system, we should be able to take the next step."
Chicago still has ways it can add to the pass rush if its deficiencies aren't remedied by a combination of health and better coaching. A handful of veteran pass rushers remain on the market, namely Joey Bosa (five sacks, five forced fumbles in 2025), Von Miller (nine sacks), Floyd (3.5 sacks) and Cam Jordan (10.5 sacks), who logged seven Pro Bowl seasons under defensive coordinator Dennis Allen in New Orleans.
But barring a significant addition up front, the Bears will have no choice but to search for improved play up front from within.br/]
