How Dennis Allen’s scheme will make Jaylon Johnson even more valuable for the Chicago Bears' defense

Since the Chicago Bears drafted Jaylon Johnson in the second round out of Utah in 2020, there has been a revolving door at the defensive coordinator position. 

For the past five seasons, Johnson has had a new defensive coordinator. Alan Williams had an opportunity to do what Chuck Pagano, Sean Desai, and Eric Washington couldn’t, but after just one game in the 2023 season, Williams never coached for the Bears again and resigned after coaching just one full year. Matt Eberflus took over as the defensive playcaller for the rest of the season but was fired following the Bears’ Thanksgiving loss to the Lions in 2024. 

Johnson finds himself in a familiar place in 2025, with Dennis Allen as the defensive coordinator under head coach Ben Johnson. Allen not only has a chance to stay past Year 1, but his defensive scheme can also allow the two-time Pro Bowl and Second Team All-Pro corner to take his game to an even higher level this upcoming season. 

Scheme

For the past two seasons, the Bears have favored using a cover-3 defense – a zone coverage that has three deep players splitting the field into thirds and four underneath defenders. In 2024, the Bears utilized cover 3 for 45% of their defensive coverages, the second most in the NFL behind only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Two seasons ago, that number was 38%, by far the Bears' most-used coverage. 

While Allen was the head coach of the Saints, New Orleans used zone coverages like every team in the NFL, but there was also a lot more man coverage than the Bears were used to playing. In 2024, the Saints ran Cover 1 – a man coverage that has one safety located in the middle of the field—on 26% of the defensive snaps. The Bears used Cover 1 just 15% of the time, tied for the fourth fewest. 

On Monday, Johnson spoke to the media for the first day of the Bears’ voluntary offseason program. He said he expects to play more man coverage and feels that scheme is where he is “best at.”

“You lock up the number one guy, number one on number one,” Johnson said. “For me. that's what I'm looking forward to doing. That's what I look forward to the most, that's what I train for, that's what I work hard for. For me it's just going to be about being ready to go out there and lock up, challenge guys, make things hard on the offense, mess up timing. Then the dogs up front they have to eat. Everybody just does what they do best. Dogs eat and then the guys on the back end we cover.”

More Opportunities 

Johnson has been one of the best corners in football for the past two seasons. His numbers speak for themselves. Since 2006, Johnson’s 2023 season, when he allowed just a 33.3 passer rating allowed, is the third-lowest mark by a cornerback with at least 500 coverage snaps. 

Out of the top 20 cornerbacks ranked by Pro Football Focus’ coverage grades, Johnson finished 13th at 74.2 but was targeted the second-lowest times (51), only behind Sauce Gardner’s 47 targets. Quarterbacks tested Johnson 50 times in 2023. 

Opponents have been reluctant to throw Johnson’s way the past two seasons. Although that is a sign of respect, it does limit the number of opportunities the veteran cornerback can take throughout a game. Teams have also been throwing the ball toward fellow outside cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. Last season, he was targeted 81 times and then 110 during his rookie season. Stevenson should benefit from playing more press coverage where he can utilize his physicality at the line of scrimmage. 

Playing more man coverage on the opponent’s No. 1 wide receiver, which teams usually want to get involved frequently in a game plan, will provide Johnson with the test he covets and take away Stevenson’s matchups throughout a game against an offense's top target.

The Bears signed Johnson to a four-year, $76 million contract extension on March 7, 2024, for a good reason -- to shut down an opponent's best weapon. Under Allen, Johnson will get far more opportunities to do that and show why he's been one of the best cornerbacks in the game. Johnson's success could also translate to Allen having a longer stay in Chicago than his predecessors.