There are many Chicago Bears fans fascinated to see how their quarterback, Caleb Williams, develops in his third year in the NFL.
Williams is on the borderline of being a superstar in the NFL, but he needs to take the leap with his accuracy improving. While that might be a training camp storyline to follow, ESPN Bears reporter Courtney Cronin is more focused on the team's defense.
"Will Chicago's decisions on defense pay off? Sure, Caleb Williams will have to adjust to playing with a new center and WR1, but the biggest question for the Bears entering training camp is whether they've done enough to improve on defense. The team decided against getting in on the Maxx Crosby sweepstakes or spending big elsewhere to upgrade their pass rush, and it believes another year in Dennis Allen's scheme for players such as Austin Booker, Dayo Odeyingbo and Gervon Dexter Sr. will yield better results from a unit that ranked 31st in pass rush win rate (29%) and 29th in pressure percentage (28%).
The Bears got younger, faster and more aggressive when they brought in linebacker Devin Bush and overhauled their secondary, which will feature a new safety duo in Coby Bryant and Dillon Thieneman. How quickly these additions learn to gel in a defense that led the league in takeaways (33) but struggled to rush the passer and stop the run will determine the strength of this unit in 2026."
Bears' defense is a headache that needs more than Advil to cure
In reality, the Bears are not going to create 33 turnovers with this defense in 2026, and that's okay as long as everyone steps up in a different way. They may not have Tremaine Edmunds, Kevin Byard, and Nahshon Wright, who all created a ton of turnovers last season, but the defense is in better shape to fix other gaps.
Devin Bush provides a more consistent tackler who will collect more tackles for loss than Edmunds did. Giving D'Marco Jackson more reps also benefits the Bears' linebacker group, which is still trying to figure out what T.J. Edwards' future looks like.
That defensive line is enough to drive the Bears fan base mad with how they play. Outside of Montez Sweat and Gervon Dexter, this group doesn't get enough of a pass rush to give fans any hope they will be better in 2026.
The secondary is a wild card filled with a ton of potential, starting with safeties Coby Bryant and Dillon Thieneman, who look like the solutions to their pass coverage problems at the position. Jaylon Johnson is 100% again, so he should be back to his Pro Bowl form, though there are questions about Kyler Gordon's availability in 2026 with his soft-tissue injury.
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Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has his work cut out for him to get this unit to improve after it was ranked 29th in yards allowed last year. Training camp will determine whether general manager Ryan Poles made the right calls on defense or if he'll have to trade and spend money to fix it.
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