Bears’ triplets rank near bottom of NFL ahead of 2025 season

There’s a lot of fanfare around the Chicago Bears offense in 2025, and for good reason.

In is Ben Johnson, the team’s new head coach, who’s also the NFL’s most brilliant play-caller. Out is the 2024 Bears offensive line that surrendered the most sacks in the NFL last year (68). General manager Ryan Poles traded for a new guard tandem — Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson — and signed the most talented center Chicago has fielded in a very long time, Drew Dalman.

Also ‘in’ are rookies Colston Loveland, the 10th overall pick in Round 1, and Luther Burden III, a first-round-worthy wide receiver who slid to the Bears in Round 2.

So, yeah, there are plenty of reasons to be fired up for Chicago’s offense this year.

But when it comes to the team’s triplets? Their quarterback-running back-wide receiver trio? There’s not as much hype around that.

In a recent ranking of every NFL team’s triplets, the Chicago Bears ranked 22nd.

“We got from the team with some of the most variance in the league to one with some of the least variance,” CBS Sports’ Jared Dubin wrote. “It’s pretty incredible to be this high up the list and only be ranked 21st, 22nd or 23rd on every single ballot. It’s notable that this represents a drop from where the Bears were a year ago, which is clearly due to the change in perception around Williams, who struggled pretty badly at times during his rookie season thanks in part due to the circumstances around him but also in part due to his own issues with holding onto the ball too long. This is a big year for him and the rest of the Bears under new coach Ben Johnson, who should put them in better position to succeed.”

Bears’ lack of top-tier running back continues to plague offense

Imagine a scenario where Swift was replaced by, say, Ashton Jeanty, the rookie first-round pick of the Las Vegas Raiders who was very much on the Bears’ NFL Draft wish list. If that were the case, there’s no way Chicago would be ranked this low. DJ Moore is too good of a wide receiver, and Williams’ ceiling remains way too high, for 21 sets of triplets to be ranked higher.

And let’s stop with the Williams “struggled pretty badly” narrative. He threw for more than 3,500 yards and set the NFL record for the longest streak of passes without an interception by a rookie. It wasn’t his fault that Shane Waldron was calling plays, or that his offensive line was a disaster.

Ben Johnson’s arrival and the expected development of both Williams and second-year wideout Rome Odunze, who could very well become the main wide receiver in the Bears’ triplets breakdown next year, should have this group ranked higher. Even if D’Andre Swift is an underwhelming starter.

The Chicago Bears haven’t added any real thread to Swift’s RB1 job. His main competition will be from third-year pro Roschon Johnson, and seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai.

As for the rest of the NFC North, the Minnesota Vikings ranked 16th, the Green Bay Packers ranked 14th, and the Detroit Lions checked in at 4th.