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Bears' free agent signing listed as a 'luxury player' and his key trait will force Ben Johnson to put him on the field often in 2025

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Kole Noble | Last updated Jun 19, 2025 10:43 AM ET

The Chicago Bears offense under head coach Ben Johnson will have a lot of cogs that will be responsible for making the entire operation as dangerous as possible.

With the Detroit Lions, Johnson's offense was built in three key areas by having a strong offensive line, a versatile run game, and players willing to do the dirty work. Everything else, including the explosives and passing game, were built on those three areas first.

So, when looking at the Bears' 2025 offense, everyone loves to point out the number of weapons in the passing game for quarterback Caleb Williams, but the offense needs to make sure Johnson's three key areas are being implemented first.

On the offensive line, Johnson made sure to overhaul the trenches with veteran talent and high-upside rookies. In the run game, he's spoken highly of D'Andre Swift with Roschon Johnson and Kyle Monangai behind him to mix things up. But, what about players willing to do the dirty work?

When you go back and look at Detroit's offense, you can see how selfless the offensive players are when watching everyone but the ball carrier. That even goes for top guys like Amon-Ra St. Brown. But, at the same time, Johnson made sure to reward selfless players, something he made sure to address with his new team.

"What I'm going to be curious to see is what guys look like when the ball's not in their hands on offense," Johnson said. "Yeah, you're right, we have a lot of weapons. So how are you going to run your route when you might not be No. 1 in the progression? How are you going to block for your teammate when he has the ball? Because when you do those things right, then, as a coaching staff, we're going to want to get you the ball a little bit more."

One player who will excel in that role and eventually work his way into being one of the coaches' favorite is wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus. Even though Zaccheaus will likely be behind DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, and Luther Burden III, Zaccheaus will force the coaches to get him on the field often in 2025.

On Thursday, ESPN went through and named "Luxury Players" in various roles. One of the roles listed was Fourth Wide Receiver and given to Zaccheaus because of his ability to block and do the dirty work, something Johnson will appreciate.

"Zaccheaus is undersized at 5-foot-8, 193 pounds, but he has still carved out a role in the NFL by being an aggressive, willing blocker. He was effective as both a blocker and receiver on the tunnel and bubble screens the Commanders ran last season; he was also capable of finding holes in coverage out of the slot. He averaged a respectable 1.9 yards per route run last season, just ahead of DK Metcalf (Seahawks) and Jordan Addison (Vikings). And while Zaccheaus is never going to command their sort of target share, the 27-year-old is one of the league's most effective wideouts without the ball in his hands. He even ran through tackles in the Eagles' secondary for a critical score in the fourth quarter of a December win over the eventual Super Bowl champs." - ESPN's Bill Barnwell

Already Zaccheaus is taking advantage of all his opportunities heading into training camp. During OTAs and minicamp, Zaccheaus worked in with the starting offense while Burden was off the field dealing with a soft tissue injury.

Johnson noted the second-round rookie has missed key opportunities to earn his teammates' and coaches' trust on the field all while Zaccheaus has continued to impress.

"This is a bigger competition than people think."@ruthiepolinsky, @clayharbs82, and @DavidHaugh look at the slot receiver position battle between Olamide Zaccheaus and Luther Burden III on The Big Pro Football Show: pic.twitter.com/JIzQ7gIbEb
— Bears on CHSN (@CHSN_Bears) June 4, 2025

This guy is going to see the field more than people might have anticipated when he was signed, and after Burden was drafted. That's because he's someone who can be a selfless teammate on the field while still offering his own run-after-catch ability.

Johnson made sure to bring this guy into his offense for a reason. Don't overlook the impact he's going to earn in 2025.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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