For years, the Chicago Bears have been viewed as a team with potential. Now, they’re starting to earn recognition for actual production.
A recent ranking from Sports Illustrated’s Matt Verderame placed the Bears’ offensive triplet of Caleb Williams, Kyle Monangai, and Colston Loveland at No. 11 in the NFL entering the 2026 season.
For a team that finished dead last in yards just two seasons ago, landing in the top third is a different conversation entirely.
“The Bears could have the league’s top offense in one of the next few years,” Verderame wrote. “The best should be ahead for all three.”
The numbers are already backing it up
GettyBears QB Caleb Williams
The Chicago Bears leapt from 32nd in total offense in 2024 to sixth in 2025. From 28th to ninth in yards per play. From 28th to ninth in scoring. That kind of acceleration doesn’t usually stall out in Year 2 of the same system with the same quarterback getting another full offseason.
Caleb Williams broke the franchise record for passing yards in a season in 2025 with 3,942, finishing with 31 total touchdowns as he came within 58 yards of becoming the first Bears quarterback ever to clear 4,000 in a season.
Williams called 2025 “a good stepping stone” after the playoff loss to the Rams, then made clear he wasn’t sitting on it. “That wasn’t the last stepping stone,” he said in April.
Colston Loveland finished as Williams’ top target down the stretch with 58 catches, 713 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie. He took some time to get rolling early, but by November he was the offense’s most reliable option over the middle.
And Kyle Monangai might be the most overlooked name in the whole conversation… The seventh round rookie rushed for 783 yards and scored five touchdowns in his first season while logging double digit carries in only seven games. If he gets a full workload, those numbers will only continue to grow with it.
The depth makes it even crazier
GettyBears QB Caleb Williams
However, there’s one thing Verderame’s format doesn’t fully capture: The Chicago Bears’ situation is more loaded than the triplet framework lets on.
D’Andre Swift had a career year on the ground in 2025 and didn’t make the cut for the triplet. Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III enter 2026 as the top two wideouts on the depth chart. Chicago’s offensive squad is so deep that the actual top three could be completely different in 12 months.
Ben Johnson said as much when he noted that 13 offensive players who started at least one game in 2025 are back. Now his public goal is getting Williams’ completion percentage from 58.1 percent to north of 65.
NFL Network’s Stacey Dales put it plainly at OTAs: “We saw an exponential jump last season with this offense under Ben Johnson in the development of Caleb Williams. I expect another exponential jump.”
For the first time in a long time, the Chicago Bears aren’t being discussed as a rebuilding team with promise. They’re being viewed as a young contender whose best football may still be in front of them.
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