Ben Johnson's first Bears roster loaded with comeback stories

There are many ways to determine ideal situations for new head coaches.

Probably the optimal situation would be inheriting the defending Super Bowl champions, although this is definitely a rarity.

Think George Seifert coming in after Bill Walsh won the Super Bowl in the 49ers' 1988 season and then won the Super Bowl in 1989, or Barry Switzer inheriting the Cowboys after Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones won a Super Bowl and mutually agreed to part ways. It didn't go as well for Switzer as for Seifert right away but he did take the team to another Super Bowl in his second year.

Another way might be to inherit a team with talented players coming off disappointing individual seasons based on their histories, a full group determined to rebound.

If you're thinking this way, then the Bears and Ben Johnson are indeed a match made in football heaven.

The Bears are loaded with starters who had down 2024 individual seasons based on their past production.

It's one thing to say a player had a down year, but a true down year is below their norm and also from the previous year.

The Bears have 16 starters who are bounce-back candidates. If you're a head coach with 16 starters determined to prove what they just went through was a fluke, there's little need to dig for extra ways to motivate people. Johnson probably will do it anyway, but here are Bears bounce-back candidates.

1. DE Montez Sweat

Dropping in sacks from 12 for two teams to 5 1/2 for one is fairly severe. There are reasons besides his own efforts, like playing through injuries and getting ganged up on, but Sweat is a player on a mission. He's been a very willing offseason participant when he really wasn't as active last year at this. At $25 million a year he better rebound.

2. LB T.J. Edwards

His tackles total dropped off from 155 to 129, his lowest total since 2020 and he lost the team tackles title to safety Kevin Byard. When the safety leads in tackles, something is going wrong on defense. He did enough to win the veteran's Brian Piccolo Award, but it was definitely a drop from his normal production.

3. LB Tremaine Edmunds

He went from four interceptions to one and had a dip in tackles and tackles for loss. Edmunds went from 17th of 182 in Pro Football Focus grade with Buffalo to 133rd among 179 with the Bears in 2023 and 119th out of 189 in 2024. All of this from a player who is the third-highest paid linebacker in the league.

4. S Jaquan Brisker

He has had three concussions in three years, the last one costing him 12 games, and it could cut short his career in Chicago if he can't show he's over it all well enough to bounce back this year. Like with other Bears defensive players, he seemed on the road to a strong season last year before the season-ending concussion.

5. WR DJ Moore

A 398-yard decline in receiving yards to 966 and average yards per reception from 14.2 to 9.9, as well as a drop from eight to six TD catches--not to mention walking off the field while a play was going on--all make this a year for Moore production, pun intended.

6. RG Jonah Jackson

It was an entire lost season for Jackson, as he left Ben Johnson and the Lions in free agency for the Rams as a highly regarded blocker to being injured and recovering in the offseason, to having his position changed to center the week before the regular season, to being benched after he returned to the position he never intended to play. Getting the chance to leave it all behind in a trade to the Bears was a tremendous break.

7. RB D'Andre Swift

A career-low of 3.8 yards per carry and drop in overall yardage from 1,049 with the Eagles to 959 in Chicago mean Swift will want to prove he's better than Chicago has seen. It would seem he'll get his carries cut from his career high of 253 but it doesn't mean his productivity should drop or stagnate.

8. QB Caleb Williams

Their whole season depends on how much he can climb in Year 2. The reason his 20 TD passes with only six interceptions and an 87.8 passer rating can be interpreted as down seasons for a rookie are his 5-12 starting record, 62.5% completions and only 6.3 yards per pass attempt. The longer passes need to connect.

9. DT Grady Jarrett

He's actually trying to bounce back from the 2023 season still. His torn ACL in 2023 almost automatically meant a decline in production for 2024 and it happened. His 2 1/2 sacks and nine tackles for loss were 3 1/2 sacks and three TFLs less than his previous full season. A year and a half after the surgery, he should be full speed for his 11th NFL season, a bounce-back season just like last year should have been but couldn't because he was still recovering.

10. DT Andrew Billings

Billings was on the way to having his best season in Chicago but his torn pectoral muscle now leaves him trying to bounce back as their premiere defensive run stopper. And it's his contract year. 

11. DE Dayo Odeyingbo

The former Colts player had his sacks dropp from eight to three, tackles for loss from nine to seven and total tackles plummeted from 38 to 31. It was an off-year after three straight years of improving his numbers.

12. RB Roschon Johnson

He had a drop in rushes from 81 to 55, yards from 352 to 150 and receptions from 34 to 16, all while playing in only one less game than the previous season. It was a year when they should have expected him to take a step up and, instead, it was a step back. Never mind the four more touchdowns rushing because they occurred when his duties were limited largely to just rushing near the goal line or in short-yardage situations. 

13. WR Devin Duvernay

The move to Jacksonville as a free agent led to a decline for a punt returner who had been All-Pro in 2021 and Pro Bowl 2021 and 2022. He went from 12.6 yards per return and 11.5 or more every year of his career to just 8.8 per return. It helps being with stronger special teams groups and he'll find this in Chicago after his one year with the Jaguars. His contribution in the passing game also had fallen off, from 30 per year in 2020-22 to just 15 catches his last two years. He's ready for a bounce back.

14. TE Cole Kmet

The numbers might not go up this year but only because of his role change. He had a drop of 26 catches, 245 yards and two TDs even while leading all NFL tight ends in catch/targets ratio (85.5%) last year. It was either the addition of a third veteran passing target, a rookie QB, and offensive coordinators who didn't know what they were doing, but Kmet's numbers were down while his efficiency went up. This year those numbers might stay down just because they added another tight end in Colston Loveland. 

15. WR Rome Odunze

A 54-catch, 734-yard, three-TD rookie year might not seem like bad numbers but many expected more from the third receiver drafted in 2024. They lost seven TD catches, 70 receptions and 744 yards from Keenan Allen's departure so someone has to make up for this. Odunze is the natural answer for this, even with slot receiver Luther Burden III added to the roster.

16. CB Tyrique Stevenson

Stevenson hasn't shown yet he can have a good season so it's probably inaccurate to say he can bounce back. He just has to prove himself, period. Considering he has a new defensive coordinator and there are possible replacements like Zah Frazier and Terell Smith, expect him to walk a straight path this year and eliminate mistakes after his interceptions fell off from four to two and his game-losing Hail Mary TD passes allowed reached a total of one.