30 Most Important Bears of 2025: Ben Johnson (No. 1)

USA Today

a day ago

The Chicago Bears are gearing up for an exciting 2025 NFL season, which features some new faces within the organization poised to get the franchise back to its winning ways. That starts with the hiring of Ben Johnson as head coach, as well as overhauling the interior offensive line, adding pieces on defense and a potenital impactful rookie draft class.
Every day from now right up through training camp, we're counting down our 30 Most Important Bears for the 2025 season. We'll recap their 2024 season, look ahead to 2025 and tackle the biggest question facing them this year.
We've reached the end of our countdown, where it should come as no surprise that head coach Ben Johnson has snagged our top spot as the Most Important Bear of 2025.
Background
Position: Head coach
Age: 39
Experience: 1st season
2025 cap hit: N/A
2024 recap
Ben Johnson has played a key role in the Detroit Lions' turnaround from worst to first and, over the past couple of years, a perennial playoff contender. The Lions went 15-2 last season, where their only losses came to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (week 2) and Buffalo Bills (Week 14). They were a Super Bowl favorite all season, and with their high-powered offense, led by Johnson, they appeared somewhat unstoppable. But Detroit suffered a brutal divisional loss to the Washington Commanders -- where quarterback Jared Goff turned the ball over four times while the defense allowed 38 points (with seven coming via Goff's pick six. In three years as the Lions offensive coordinator, Johnson took an underperforming Goff and turned him into one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Detroit's offense has been one of the best in the NFL over the past two seasons, including this season where they're averaging 33.2 points per game (1st), 409.5 yards per game (2nd), 6.2 yards per play (3rd), 263.2 passing yards per game (2nd) and 146.4 rushing yards per game (6th). Following the Lions' loss to the Commanders, Johnson had his pick of teams to choose to serve as head coach. But there was only one right team.
2025 outlook
Johnson was the most-sought after candidate in this coaching cycle, where the Bears, Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars were all clamoring for his services. But, for Johnson, Chicago was always the team. Reports even indicated that he was interested in the job the previous offseason (when the Bears opted to retain Matt Eberflus). Now, with Johnson leading the charge, the expectation is Chicago will develop into a disciplined, talented football team poised to make an impact perhaps as early as 2025. The Bears do have the second-most difficult strength of schedule, but this is a team that should be able to compete with the right coaching staff now in place. No one is expecting Chicago to become a Super Bowl contender immediately, but it's not out of the question for playoff contenders to be the expectation.
Big question: Can Ben Johnson get the most out of Caleb Williams in Year 1?
Johnson was hired to serve as the head coach of the Bears, but he also has the incredibly important task of developing Caleb Williams into the franchise quarterback the organization believes him to be. One of the biggest draws to Chicago, for Johnson, was Williams, who he praised back during his time with the Lions. Now, Johnson has hitched his wagon to the former No. 1 overall pick and will look to elevate his game. It's something that's not going to be immediate; it will take time. But progress is the name of the game, and even at this point of training camp, the progress is already noticeable. Johnson has built this offense around Williams -- where he certainly had a hand in the overhauling of the offensive line and adding more playmakers to the roster -- and there's reason to believe the second-year QB can flash in this offense as soon as Year 1.
30 Most Important Bears of 2025
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