The Chicago Bears have officially put the finishing touches on their Week 1 depth chart ahead of their showdown against the Carolina Panthers.
Chicago enters the season with massive expectations to look and play like a Super Bowl contender. Carolina will be their first major test of the 2026 regular season, as the Bears need to get off to a fast start.
With the depth chart officially out, the Bears fan base now knows all the answers to the major questions they have had over the last month. Here's a full look at the Bears' depth chart from quarterback to special teams.
Full breakdown of Bears' depth chart for Week 1 against Panthers
QB - Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent, Case Keenum
This remains one of the most stable position groups on the Bears, with all three quarterbacks capable of leading the offense. Chicago hopes Williams is the only one who needs to run the offense, but Bagent and Keenum are great insurance.
RB - D'Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai, Roschon Johnson
Swift and Monangai are practicing despite their injuries, so that's at least the good news for the Bears. They are on track to play in Week 1, with the hope that they can stay healthy throughout the week and the game.
WR - Rome Odunze, Kalif Raymond, Zavion Thomas
Luther Burden III, Jahdae Walker
Odunze is the big concern, as he has not practiced to start the week and is considered day-to-day. The Bears seem optimistic that he can play, but if not, they will be shorthanded at receiver.
TE - Cole Kmet, Sam Roush
Colston Loveland
Chicago is going to roll with a lot of two-tight-end sets this season and try to get Kmet and Loveland as involved as possible. Especially with a lot of the recent wide receiver injuries to Burden and Odunze, the tight ends will be leaned on to help in the passing game.
OL - (LT) Braxton Jones, Ozzy Trapilo
(LG) Joe Thuney, Jordan McFadden
(C) Garrett Bradbury, Logan Jones
(RG) Jonah Jackson, Luke Newman
(RT) Darnell Wright, Theo Benedet
All eyes are on the left tackle position, with Jones starting the season there despite a tough training camp and preseason. The hope is that he won't be there long before Trapilo fully recovers and returns to the starting lineup.
DL - Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, Jamree Kromah
Grady Jarrett, Neville Gallimore, James Lynch
Kentavius Street, Jordan van den Berg, Jayden Loving
Dayo Odeyingbo, Daniel Hardy
Street is going to get the start in place of Gervon Dexter after he was traded to the Atlanta Falcons. There should be a heavy rotation with Gallimore and van den Berg getting reps in there at defensive tackle. Watch for Odeyingbo and Booker to still rotate off the edge often as well.
LB - T.J. Edwards, D'Marco Jackson, Keyshaun Elliott
Devin Bush, Jack Sanborn
There are no major surprises at the linebacker position, with everyone holding down their spots. It'll be interesting to see if Elliott gets used on defense at all or is fully a special teams player. The same could be said about Sanborn's role on this team.
CB - Tyrique Stevenson, Clark Phillips III
Jaylon Johnson, Josh Blackwell
(DB) Cam Lewis, Malik Muhammad II
Lewis appears to be getting the start at nickel for the injured Kyler Gordon over Muhammad. Outside of that news, the corner position hopes to stay healthy, with Johnson and Stevenson bringing stability to the secondary for the whole season.
S - Dillon Thieneman, Elijah Hicks
Xavier Woods, Skyler Thomas
Woods is coming in to replace Coby Bryant for what could be the whole season at safety. More pressure is on Thieneman to live up to his first-round draft status in his rookie season after all the injuries in the secondary.
Special Teams - Cairo Santos (K & KO), Tory Taylor (P & H), Beau Gardner (LS)
(KR & PR) - Kalif Raymond, Zavion Thomas
Read more: Bears are taking the Braxton Jones gamble they have no choice in making
Raymond and Thomas are both handling returns on special teams, with the question of whether they will split it or Raymond will get all the work. Thomas showed off his speed on punt returns in the preseason win over the Tennessee Titans, so it may be hard not to let him get some returns.
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