It is not often that Chicago Bears fans go into the season feeling good about how the offense looks, but wondering just how good the defense can be.
While the question is how high the ceiling is, the floor should be relatively high due to players like Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson. Pro Football Focus highlighted him as the defensive player on the Bears heading into 2025 to watch.
"Johnson didn’t quite match his elite 2023 form last season, but he remains one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks. Over the past two years, he’s earned an outstanding 89.4 PFF grade, second among all cornerbacks behind Trent McDuffie. In that span, he’s recorded six interceptions and 10 pass breakups."Dalton Wasserman
How Johnson can impact the Bears' defense in 2025
Grading out so high helps his overall grade from the two years combined. Still, Johnson stepped up his game from his first three seasons in the NFL, compared to the last two years. As noted, he has six interceptions in the past two years, but before that, he had just one in three seasons.
The Bears added Dayo Odeyingbo, Grady Jarrett, and Shemar Turner, who are all expected to be contributors to the defense this season. The team is focused on getting more pressure on the quarterback. With the added beef upfront, life is expected to be easier than ever for Johnson. Could this lead to him being better than ever? If the Bears' offense can give them leads, it would also lead to more pass attempts and more chances for Johnson to strike.
More than that, this has a chance to be the best that the secondary has looked. With Johnson joined by Kyler Gordon, they have a premier outside threat and a premier slot cornerback. Tyrique Stevenson is in a make-or-break year, and a new scheme may help him. If not. Terell Smith has arguably been better anyways.
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Kevin Byard is getting older, but if they can get one more year out of him, they are expecting Jaquan Brisker to be healthier than ever. The age of Byard, the health of Brisker, and the progression of Stevenson will be what makes the unit, but the stability that Johnson brings cannot be ignored.