Critical flaw in Chicago Bears’ offense exposed ahead of 2025 season

The Chicago Bears’ offense should be one of the more exciting units in the NFL in 2025. New head coach Ben Johnson will try his best to work the same magic in Chicago that he had with the Detroit Lions, and the good news is he has a wizard at quarterback in second-year starter Caleb Williams.

However, for Williams and Johnson to have any chance at achieving that offensive success in 2025, the offensive line needs to play at a high level.

General manager Ryan Poles did his part to add the pieces the coach and quarterback need through trades for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, and the free-agent signing of center Drew Dalman. The revamped interior offensive line should provide a significant uptick in performance from the NFL-worst 68 sacks surrendered in 2024.

But more than just interior protection will be needed for Williams to shine in Year 2. He’ll need his offensive tackles to keep the league’s edge rushers at bay, which could be a bigger concern than Bears fans realize.

At least, it’s a big concern if you put value into ESPN’s latest offensive tackle rankings that were based on a poll of NFL executives, scouts, and coaches.

Those execs and coaches ranked the league’s top 10 tackles, and included six honorable mentions and eight vote-getters. That’s a total of 24 players, and neither Bears starter — Darnell Wright or Braxton Jones — received a vote.

I’m no math major, but that would suggest that they’re both considered outside the top 24 offensive tackles in the NFL. At least, it can be interpreted that way.

Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images

While there’s a valid argument for not including Jones among the NFL’s top tackles, Wright feels like a snub. The former 10th overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft has proven through his first two seasons in the league that he has all the makings of a decade-long starter on the right side, and if his play continues to trend upward, he should be considered one of the 10 or 12 best players at his position by the end of the season.

Jones, meanwhile, is entering a training camp battle with rookie Ozzy Trapilo for the starting job. His injury status is the biggest variable in his lack of job security, as he’s still on his way back from a fractured ankle that he suffered in December.

Perhaps Wright isn’t quite in that top-10 tier just yet. But I think it’s fair to look at who received an honorable mention nod and wonder how Wright isn’t in this cluster: Jake Matthews (Falcons), Joe Alt (Chargers), Ronnie Stanley (Ravens), Kolton Miller (Raiders), Taylor Decker (Lions), and Bernhard Raimann (Colts).

Yeah, Wright is at least an honorable mention, and it isn’t particularly close.

Perhaps this is what happens when you start on an offensive line that led the NFL in sacks in 2024. If things change as expected in 2025, expect Darnell Wright to gain the respect he deserves across the league.