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Ben Johnson finally used the word 'joker' and the player he gave it to is not the one anyone expected

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Kole Noble | Last updated Jul 31, 2025 4:10 PM ET

Going into his first head coaching job with the Chicago Bears, Ben Johnson surrounded himself with a lot of bright coaching minds and took a lot of influence from other head coaches around the league.

Looking at his coaching philosophy and what he's aiming to accomplish in Chicago, it's easy to see a lot of Sean Payton influence in the Bears new head coach.

Multiple assistants on his staff came from the Sean Payton Tree and Johnson learned a lot about the Payton Influence while working under head coach Dan Campbell in Detroit.

Anyone who's followed Sean Payton's system and offense knows about the "joker" role. A joker is simply a hybrid player who can line up anywhere in the formation and be a threat as both a runner and a receiver. A joker can also come from the tight end position when looking back at how Payton used Jeremey Shockey and Jimmy Graham.

Looking at the Bears offense Ben Johnson set to deploy, many players can fit that "joker" role in Chicago such as DJ Moore, D'Andre Swift, Luther Burden III, Colston Loveland, or even Rome Odunze. Yet, when Johnson finally brought up the term, it was another player he was referring to. That player was veteran tight end Cole Kmet.

"I think he's a little bit of a unicorn," Johnson said of Kmet on Thursday. "You can put him all over the place — in-line, to outside the numbers, slot — I think you can move him around quite a bit. I think the beauty of having him outside the numbers is if you can get him matched up on a safety or a linebacker, then that's going to be a favor for us. He's going to be able to win those matchups on a consistent basis. He's such a large target, that if you put it somewhere close to him, he'll find a way to come down with it."

During the first seven days of camp, Kmet has been a quiet name out on the practice field. Especially since Loveland, the team's first-round selection, got back on the field and started integrating with the starting offense this week. And yet, Kmet continues to be a name no one should overlook.

Ben Johnson's plan for Kmet is a fascinating one. In five seasons, Kmet has lined up out wide on only 390 career snaps. According to Sports Info Solutions, Kmet has only ran 13 routes on the outside in those five seasons with 11 receptions. Being able to have a creative play-caller like Johnson can give Kmet more opportunities to show what he can what he can really do in other alignments.

"Nowadays, they can put you anywhere," Kmet explained. "So, as long as you can show the coaches that you can handle certain things, they're going to put you all over the field."

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Moving around the formation isn't just restricted to only Kmet. Loveland also mentioned how the coaches are trying to get everyone to learn the offense "conceptually" in order to move around various positions.

It's clear Johnson is looking at his offense like a chessboard with various pieces to attack a defense. Next week during the first preseason game, we'll see a glimpse of what that will truly look like for all his offensive skill players. But one things for sure, Johnson has a clear plan for how he wants to exploit Kmet in this offense.

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

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