The Chicago Bears are one of the more exciting teams in the NFL right now. They are on Hard Knocks, they have the number one pick, a bunch of new skill players, and a city that is thirsty for a good team. While the roster is ready to compete, there are a few players who could change the ceiling of the team, for better or for worse.
Who will determine how good the Bears are in 2024?
5. The Chicago Bears are heavily reliant on Gervon Dexter
It is hard to find a list of important Bears in 2024 without mentioning Gervon Dexter. The thing is that while the team needs Dexter as much, or more than any other player on the roster, he is a player that we truly have no idea what we are going to get.
Dexter played 40% of the snaps last year. For comparison, Justin Jones played 69%, and you could argue that will be a low projection because this year the starter does not have the same type of depth behind him. So, we can say that Dexter will be playing roughly 30% more of the snaps this year than he did last year. He may even double the rate at which he was on the field.
So, Dexter looked good in spurts. The Bears also used him in pass-rush situations and typically pulled him against the run.
There is a scenario where Dexter explodes and has a breakout season. The Bears lack of depth along the defensive line is fine and their pass rush becomes a feared one. There is a world where Dexter is a liability in the run game, and teams can maneuver the ball down the field on this defense. His pass rush does not work once linemen get tape on him, and he is still hit or miss out of the gates. The pass rush never formulates because they are playing guys who were cut and traded for nothing right before the season over their second-round pick. Both things are on the table right now.
4. Will the perception of Braxton Jones shift this year?
It feels like the perception of Braxton Jones has taken a shift for the worse. When Jones was a rookie, fans were excited to see him start. He did well and the future looked bright. Penalties and injuries plagued the early part of his 2023 season, but by the end of the year, he had figured a lot of things out.
Still, the stench of a few poor games was on Jones. He also has always been average to slightly above average, but he has never been a higher-end quality starter. Still, as he enters year three it is easy to see fans disregard him as a weakness of the unit, or a player that should soon be replaced by the rookie third-round pic.
Still, this is a quality run blocker entering his third NFL season with enough traits to be a strong pass blocker as well. The penalties still need to be ironed out, but you have to expect that from a player with his experience.
He is now at a point where those things should go away. If that becomes the case, we could be talking about an extension with Braxton Jones at this time next year.
Of course, there is also a world where he slowly loses steam in his development. If there is liability it could be Jones, and the bad news is that Kiram Amagedjie has not played enough to be trusted to replace Jones. Quality tackle play will make or break any season and that is no different here.
3. The Chicago Bears need high-end play from Tremaine Edmunds
Chicago made Edmunds one of the highest-paid linebackers in the NFL last year. He was not quite that in his first year with the team. His season went too similar to many others. He was banged up in the summer and was slow to get his footing in the new defense.
Edmunds struggled early and then missed some time with an injury. However, when he came back, the defense started to become the unit so many thought it could be. Edmunds became the player that fans thought he was, and he was starting to put away all of the talk about his play earlier in the year.
This year, there are no excuses. Overall, he was not the third-best linebacker in the NFL, or even close. However, based on average annual value, that is how he was being paid. If the Bears got a linebacker who was competing for an All-Pro, this defense would transform overnight. With Matt Eberflus specializing in developing linebackers, it is possible.
However, Edmunds still has a chance of being a miss. At the very least, his impact will not be felt in the way that the team envisioned when signing him. Dexter is a make-or-break player because he is such an unknown, Edmunds is a make-or-break player because if he does what he was signed to do, he could take this defense to an entirely new level. If not, it may maintain a limited ceiling.
2. What will Caleb Williams do as a rookie?
This is pretty obvious when you list off the make-or-break players. All of the other players matter, but this team goes as far as Caleb Williams can lead them. The good news is that he is set up for success.
He has an NFL play-caller with a track record. His offensive line makes sense on paper and there has not been too much shuffling in recent weeks. The receivers are better than anything Chicago has ever given a quarterback, and that does not count the backs and tight ends which are also impressive.
It is not like there are no excuses for Williams, but at the same time, he is in a great spot as a rookie. Still, there can be lofty expectations placed upon Williams entering the year. We have to remember that he is still a rookie, and things can go many different ways.
Even C.J. Stroud lost to the Carolina Panthers last year when he was setting the world on fire. Not every week will be a success. Still, the Bears need to see him look competent overall.
If Williams has all of these weapons and looks lost out there, they have real problems and it will be hard to blame others as fans have in the past. At the same time, if he shines in the way that someone like Stroud or Andrew Luck did, the Bears are making the playoffs and may have the roster to win a game.
1. Imagine if the Chicago Bears got a good year from Nate Davis
You could argue that the starters are set at all positions on offense and defense. Only one position could be arguably unsettled and that is left guard. The Bears wanted Nate Davis to start. Then, he missed most of the training camp. It caused the team to shift Ryan Bates from center to guard.
Bates got hurt, but playing that much guard allowed Coleman Shelton to walk into the starting center role. So, the Bears could go back to Ryan Bates when he gets healthy. However, between the two, Davis is the healthier one and will start.
Remember when the Bears made Davis a big free-agent acquisition? He is still making good money as a starting guard. The Bears believed in his talent.
It was only a few games mixed in last year, but when Davis was healthy and playing his best, the line looked better than ever. If Davis is healthy and lives up to what he was paid to be, this line is going to be legitimately good.
We saw how bad things can get if Davis is a liability. Remember week one of last season? If Davis is that bad, the team will have to pull him. Right now, Bates is not healthy enough to play.