Bears swung big to improve their O-line. Here’s how the additions have paid off
Sitting in front of reporters last March, Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson laid out the qualities he sought in interior offensive linemen.
Tough. Gritty. Dirty. Smart.
That day, the Bears introduced their two big swings at guard — Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson. A couple of days later, it was the same for the arrival of center Drew Dalman.
The triumvirate played all 17 games together and combined to play 3,437 of a possible 3,462 snaps. They created holes for the No. 3 rushing attack in football, and protected the quarterback at a better rate than all but two teams. Thuney and Dalman made the Pro Bowl, and the Bears won the NFC North.
The trio has paid dividends and then some.
“We wouldn’t be where we are offensively right now if it weren’t for them holding down that middle and keeping the depth, the pocket clear for us,” Johnson said last month. “Certainly in the running game, they’ve had a large impact as well.”
As the Bears head into Saturday night’s playoff game against the Green Bay Packers, there’s no position group they can feel better and more confident about than their offensive line, starting on the interior.
“When we get going, it’s a tough train to stop,” Jackson said, “and I got faith in our guys to keep it rolling.”
The easy punchline about Johnson’s hire was that he couldn’t bring a loaded Lions offensive line with him to Chicago. He needed his new boss to get him some of those tough, gritty, dirty and smart individuals.
General manager Ryan Poles came to Chicago in 2022, intent on transforming the offensive line, the position he and assistant GM Ian Cunningham played, and the Bears’ unit needed significant improvement.
The free-agent signing of Nate Davis flopped. Neither Lucas Patrick nor Coleman Shelton became the long-term answer at center. Braxton Jones seemed like a revelation at left tackle, considering his draft position and level of college football before an injury. Teven Jenkins never lived up to his draft status from the previous regime. The team went through a multitude of lineup combinations while watching quarterbacks continually get sacked.
The starting offensive line in Week 18 of 2024? Larry Borom, Jake Curhan, Shelton, Matt Pryor and right tackle Darnell Wright.
Wright was the only lineman whom Poles and Johnson could really rely on at the start of 2025. For Johnson’s offense to hum, he needed not just new starters but blue-chippers. That’s what he had in Detroit.
When it came time to consider sending away draft picks and signing players to big contracts, familiarity helped. Poles knew Thuney from his time in Kansas City, and Johnson spent three seasons with Jackson. Then they relied on their scouting staff to do homework on Dalman.
“We talk about position prototypes and what we want as we’re building this thing together through the draft and free agency, what we want players to look like and how they can best fit our offense and defense, but we felt like all three of them were high-caliber players,” Johnson said. “I think the communication of how we wanted to build the roster and how it’s come to fruition has been really cool to see.”
On March 4, news broke that the Bears had traded for Jackson, who made a Pro Bowl in Johnson’s offense in 2022, but for several reasons, didn’t work out with the Rams. Less than 24 hours later, the trade for Thuney, a guard with a pedigree unlike anyone who had been in Halas Hall in a long time.
Thuney’s resume? Three consecutive Pro Bowls, two first-team All-Pros and four Super Bowl rings.
“Their play speaks for themselves in terms of what the tape says,” Johnson said in March about Jackson and Thuney. “The character, the integrity, it’s top-notch. I can speak first-hand with Jonah, and Ryan can speak first-hand with Joe.”
When free agency opened five days later, the Bears landed the top center on the market in Dalman. In less than a week, and before the official league year even began, quarterback Caleb Williams had three new starters in front of him.
Bears right guard Jonah Jackson was the least heralded of the 2025 offensive line additions, but he quickly meshed with right tackle Darnell Wright and is the line’s self-described hype man. (Mike Dinovo / Imagn Images)
Offensive line coach Dan Roushar had to feel good about the room he’d be walking into, but this exceeded his expectations.
“You think you know what you’re getting, but you never really know,” Roushar said. “And once the whole thing has come together, the unique personalities and the unique leadership skills of each one of them in their own way have obviously been a catalyst for the way we’ve played.”
Jackson came to Chicago with the biggest question mark outside the building after playing in only four games for the Rams last season, but the Bears’ front office felt good enough to give him an extension in March. He’s been a mauler, with his trap block against the Browns going viral on social media.
Everyone has a role, and there’s a reason he accepted the game ball in Philadelphia on behalf of the unit.
“I guess I’d be a little bit of the hype man, you know,” Jackson said, “get the boys going, get the troops rolling.”
Dalman gets a ton of credit for being the engine that makes the offense go. Johnson called him the quarterback of the offensive line.
“Drew is just so smart, man,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “Getting us all on the same page with the IDs and all that stuff. He’s been great the whole year, and you know, really it’s a trickle-down effect to the outside.”
Then there’s Thuney, the rock. Nothing fazes him.
“He’s just a winner, you know?” Johnson said. “He knows what it looks like.”
Johnson answered the question about Thuney after a walkthrough, and he took note — as everyone has since training camp — about the absurd consistency. Every day, Thuney is the same guy.
“And then, in the game, you know what you’re going to get every single week,” Johnson said. “He has been very durable. He’s very smart. I think he has been a huge part of our success up front.”
There are countless cautionary tales for rookie quarterbacks, including a few who have worn the navy and orange. Often, a young quarterback’s trajectory can be negatively affected by getting battered and bruised in his first season.
Williams was sacked 68 times last season. It led the league. It tied for the second most this century with noted cautionary tale David Carr.
The quarterback took some responsibility last season, saying that not everything fell on his offensive line. But keeping Williams upright had to be a top priority.
After 17 games, in which Dalman, Thuney and Jackson started and finished every one, Williams was sacked only 24 times. The sack rate of 4.18 percent was the third lowest in the NFL and the lowest for the Bears since 2001.
Williams’ sack rate in 2024 was 10.7 percent. The next highest in the league was 9.1.
“I don’t know how many sacks I’ve taken this year, but they’ve cut it down,” Williams said. “And it’s not me cutting it down. Those guys have cut it down for me. They’ve been huge for me this year, my career so far, this year.”
Against the Browns in Week 15, Williams had one of his best games, a 112.5 passer rating against one of the league’s best pass rushes.
Johnson thought Williams was comfortable, and that doesn’t happen without a pretty good group protecting him.
“He has to have that confidence in the people out in front of him that he’s going to have some time to work through his progression,” Johnson said after the game. “He certainly looked that way when you turned on the tape.”
When building a game plan and drawing up pass plays, knowing that Jackson, Dalman and Thuney are more likely than not to keep the middle of the pocket clean plays a role.
“Our protection starts inside out all the time,” passing game coordinator Press Taylor said. “So when you know you have the three interior players playing at a high level, you do feel good.”
Bears center Drew Dalman, left, and left guard Joe Thuney were rewarded for their play with Pro Bowl invitations in their first season in Chicago. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
The offensive line is the hardest position to quantify. The sack numbers provide some context, but not every sack is on the offensive line. Grading players is subjective unless we know the specific assignments. Historic offensive numbers help, like the Bears gaining their most yards per game since 1983.
There are postseason accolades, though, that paint the picture of one of the best groups in football.
The Bears are sending two offensive linemen to the Pro Bowl — not as alternates — for the first time since 2006 (Olin Kreutz and Ruben Brown).
Thuney is in line to be the first Bears AP All-Pro guard since Dick Barwegan in 1952.
Participation numbers are objective. Thuney missed only four snaps all season, coming at the end of the blowout in Detroit in Week 2. Jackson missed snaps for an in-game eye injury in November against Pittsburgh before returning. Dalman is the only Bear on either side of the ball to play every snap this season.
Then there are the analytics.
Thuney finished second in the NFL among interior linemen to Chiefs center Creed Humphrey in ESPN’s “pass block win rate.” Dalman finished eighth, Jackson 12th. Pittsburgh is the only other team to have two players in the top 20.
Thuney finished third in the run block win rate category. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed zero sacks and only one quarterback hit. Dalman was credited with allowing one QB hit and two sacks. Jackson gave up only two QB hits.
In 2024, defenses applied 104 hits on Williams. That number dropped to 67 in 2025.
When Williams received the question about his starting guards and center, he made it a point to mention his tackles, too.
The success of the front five is all connected.
Wright, the right tackle, had a Pro Bowl-caliber season. He finished fourth among tackles in pass block win rate. He said he’s leaned on his veteran teammates’ experience in his preparation.
“What’s the best way to do things, how to work out, solve problems,” Wright said, “how they’ve done it in the past because they all have probably had the same problems, and you might see it one way but they’ve done it in the past and it may have worked good, just that type of thing.”
Theo Benedet, an undrafted player out of Canada who didn’t play last season, stepped in at left tackle for eight starts this season. He finished fourth among tackles in run block win rate. Rookie Ozzy Trapilo has held his own as the blind-side tackle. Both have benefited from having Thuney next to them.
“In Joe, you have such a consistent player,” Roushar said. “You know every down what you’re getting from him. So, for Ozzy, he can expect certain set patterns; he expects the communication and the way we do things.”
Said Benedet, “I think that’s what really differentiates him from other offensive linemen in the league. Just down in, down out, it looks the same every time, balanced, getting his hands on and winning.”
Roushar said what makes the dynamic on the right side rare is the way Jackson and Wright have meshed personality-wise, saying they have a “cool relationship” that has “enhanced Darnell’s growth.”
“Being next to a guy all year, you have to know the ins and outs with him and be able to gel with him,” Jackson said. “And me and Darnell, it’s like my friggin’ twin, we look just alike. We got kind of similar antics.”
And as good as the interior has been, Wright’s play can’t be ignored. It’s made a difference for his veteran teammate, too.
“People say, I guess, I helped him out, but the way this guy is able to get people rolling and hold off the B-gap for me has been awesome,” Jackson said. “And I can’t thank him enough.”
On Black Friday, seconds before Johnson ripped off his shirt and created a viral moment for Bears fans, he awarded a game ball to the entire offensive line.
Against the defending champion Eagles and Vic Fangio’s defense, on the road, that line paved the way for 281 rushing yards.
It was the second time this season the Bears ran for at least 280 yards — they rolled up 283 on the Bengals. They hadn’t accomplished that since 1984. In that Eagles game, running backs D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai became the first Bears duo to rush for 100 yards each in a game since Walter Payton and Matt Suhey in 1985.
“To do something like that, that’s amazing,” Swift said after the game. “Hats off to the O-line, I can’t say that enough.”
It’s a group that says little and does a lot, like creating running lanes for Swift and Monangai, the first pair of Bears running backs to surpass 750 yards in a season since 1978. It’s allowed Johnson to call the smashmouth football he wants to be the identity of the team and feel optimistic about the front holding up on third or fourth down, the gotta-have-it moments.
“We feel good when we have the ball that those three guys are gonna do exactly what we need them to do on any given play,” offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said.
So often, the last team standing in the NFL has an offensive line that past Bears teams could only dream of. If the Bears can get a playoff win, or more, the plan at guard and center employed by Poles and Johnson will be pointed to as a major reason.
“As an older coach, it’s one of those things that we appreciate the execution and the toughness and all those things,” Roushar said, “but to watch that has probably been one of the most enjoyable parts of this year.”
