Even with all the attention being brought to the offense, the Bears improved on the other side of the ball, too. How will their defense perform in 2025 with the new talent they added?

Grading Each Chicago Bears’ Defensive Position Group

Defensive Line

The Bears did most of their defensive offseason work in the trenches. They added Grady Jarrett and Dayo Odeyingbo in free agency to help shore up the pass rush.

Chicago’s main issue in 2024 was its lack of depth. Once starting defensive tackle Andrew Billings went down with an injury, the entire group fell apart. Montez Sweat saw more chip help on his pass rushes, and Gervon Dexter Sr. was doubled more often on the interior.

Adding Jarrett and Odeyingbo allows the edge and interior rushing rotations to keep more talent on the field at a time while also not wearing out any one player. Despite not having one main superstar, his group should see major improvement from last year.

Grade: B-

Linebacker

The two main pieces in this position group were brought here before the 2023 season in Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards. Edwards has been fantastic so far and has been outplaying his contract, while Edmunds has left much to be desired.

This group did lose Jack Sanborn to the Cowboys, as former coach Matt Eberflus wanted a familiar face in his system in Dallas. That leaves the third linebacker spot up for grabs in training camp.

The two players who will be lobbying for that position will be fourth-round rookie Ruben Hyppolite II and Noah Sewell. Sewell has been in Chicago for a couple of years now, but with Dennis Allen bringing in a new system, both players will have an equal chance to earn it.

Luckily for the linebackers, the improved defensive line should make their jobs easier in both the run and pass game.

Grade: B

Cornerback

Unlike the defensive line, this position group does have a superstar in the mix. Jaylon Johnson will be leading the charge for the Bears on defense and looks to continue his stretch of shutdown play.

Johnson will be joined by Tyrique Stevenson and Kyler Gordon, both of whom had up-and-down years last season. Gordon played great against the run and was solid against the pass, which earned him a contract extension through the 2028 season. The Bears also have Terell Smith, Josh Blackwell, and Zah Frazier in reserve as well.

This group is most definitely a strength for the defense, even though they are relatively young compared to the rest of the league.

Grade: B

Safety

The Bears are sporting some solid talent on the back end of their defense, and not many are talking about it.

Kevin Byard III and Jaquan Brisker are the expected starters, and for good reason. Byard has been a good safety for quite some time now, and Brisker has been one of the hardest-hitting players in the entire league since he was drafted.

Brisker, unfortunately, missed most of 2024 with a concussion, so many fans are awaiting his return this coming season. The Bears missed him last year as their run defense took a hit when he went down.

Jonathan Owens and Elijah Hicks aren’t incredible players, but are capable of stepping up in an emergency as we saw Owens do last year when Brisker went down.

This position group has a couple of solid players within it, which pair nicely with the starting cornerbacks.

Grade: B-

Main Image: Kamil Krzaczynski – Imagn Images

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