Pinpointing great Bears unknowns for Ben Johnson's first season

Here are the great unknowns when it comes to implementing plans made by 2025 Bears coaches.

Not all of them are necessarily bad or foreboding. They could actually be tremendous positives, but until players actually are playing in live games there is no way to know.

5. Increased man-to-man coverage

All of the Bears secondary members acted as if they loved changes being brought by Allen. More man-to-man coverage and blitzes are part of that, or at least he blitzed more in the last few years in New Orleans. He always played more man-to-man coverage. It might mean twice as much man-to-man or about 40% man coverage. The Saints last year played man-to-man about 31% of the time compared to 17% for the Bears, per Football Insights. 

“I love it. I love it," cornerback Tyrique Stevenson said about the coverage emphasis. "In most (Johnson) defenses, for the corner it’s man-on-man. So it's 'Mano-e-Mano, I'm going to show you, I've been working and I'm better than you.' And that can take a lot of the guessing out of the game for the corners.”

What if they can't actually do this, though? Jaylon Johnson should be able to do it because he's been playing the opposing best receiver much of the time but does anyone really know if others can play it?

Saying it and having indicated to scouts in college they could do it is one thing but actually doing it in the NFL against the best QBs and receivers is quite another.

It could turn out the Bears struggle in a man-to-man coverage scheme or they could all really be as good as they want to think they are.

This won't be known until those first passes are thrown.

4. Ben Johnson and a mobile QB

When the Bears hired Declan Doyle as offensive coordinator, he put his finger on this unknown element, this supposed strength of Caleb Williams to come out of the pocket and create when a play breaks down.

"His second act, his ability to evade in the pocket, his ability to create is a special thing," Doyle said.

Obviously Jared Goff lacked this in Detroit working with Johnson.

"I get excited thinking about that because I haven't really been around that since I've been in the league," Johnson said.

What kind of weird things can Johnson do with a QB who can move around behind the line?

However, it can be both a curse and a blessing.

Williams frequently gets blamed for some of the league-high 68 sacks because he left the pocket too soon or in the wrong place and ran right into a sack or pressure.

Johnson could benefit greatly from a scrambler who can also make passes on the run.

Then again, it might drive him nuts to see his plans dashed by a QB without the patience to stay in the pocket and let everything develop the way Goff could do.

3. Ben Johnson's game management

As a first-time head coach this is truly a great unknown. Even if it's bad, it can't be close to the complete buffoonery the franchise experienced with last year's staff at the end of games.

2. Edge rush pressure

It seems a foregone conclusion they'll pressure up the middle better with Grady Jarrett's acquisition, with Andrew Billings coming back from injury and with another year of development for Gervon Dexter. They might even get extra heat from rookie Shemar Turner. That's not to say the group will stack up sacks but they have players with respectable pass rush win rates on the inside now, far better than when they finished last season. 

After all of their spending and changes, the question is how much better off their edge rush is with Dayo Odeyingbo than it was with DeMarcus Walker?

In his last three NFL seasons, Walker had 62 pressures and 32 quarterback knockdowns to go with 14 sacks. In those three seasons, Odeyingbo had 58 pressures, 24 QB knockdowns and 16 sacks. Those numbers don't exactly say they've found a more effective player.

Odeyingbo did have 19 of his knockdowns last year, which is a high amount for one year. The Bears expect more development from him in their scheme, but how much better he is remains a great unknown. If he isn't much more effective, they could wind up relying totally on Montez Sweat again because their only additional help must come from totally unproven Austin Booker and Dominique Robinson.

Johnson sure sounds like he liked what he saw of Robinson, which surely had to have Bears fans asking if he was watching the right guy.

"Even without the pads on, he has done a great job of consistently speed rush up the field or countering back to the inside, he's done a really nice job there, and then, of course, he has some special teams value that he takes a lot of pride in as well," Johnson said.

If Robinson does become that third effective rusher, it will be one issue solved but another question that developed, like mainly, how in the world did he improve that much?

1. Caleb Williams' development

This is the greatest unknown element of all and probably the defining factor for this entire season.

There is only one year in a failed offense to go by with Williams, and Johnson has never developed a young quarterback.

Then there is that human element. How do the two personalities mesh?

It could all make for a wonderous mixture, or an utter nightmare.