Getty
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams could break out in his second season in 2025.
The Chicago Bears are still several weeks away from the start of training camp and figuring out how their 53-man roster will shape up for the 2025 season.
Offensively, though, there is a sense of energy and renewal in the air for the Bears after the team hired Ben Johnson as their offensive-minded head coach in the offseason. He helped the Detroit Lions lead the NFL in scoring as their offensive coordinator in 2024.
Chicago’s front office has also added heaps of new talent since the start of free agency. The Bears acquired three new interior offensive line starters in the first week of free agency — including Pro Bowl left guard Joe Thuney in trade — and invested their first three draft picks into offensive positions (tight end, wide receiver and offensive tackle).
In the spirit of newness, here’s a look at the top three breakout candidates for the Bears on offense who could put themselves on the map during the 2025 season:
Caleb Williams, QB
GettyBears quarterback Caleb Williams.
No surprise with the first breakout candidate here. Williams showed flashes of his great potential in 2024, but his rookie season was marred by controversy and inconsistency in terms of both coaching leadership and his own performance. Fortunately, the Bears kicked it into overdrive to build a better support system around him, hiring one of the top offensive head-coaching candidates in Johnson and acquiring multiple new players who can either catch passes from 2024’s No. 1 overall pick and help keep him upright.
Now, the onus is on Williams to learn Johnson’s detail-focused playbook and make the necessary growth in his game to become the superstar quarterback the Bears crave. He struggled with accuracy and decision-making issues in a messy, fluid offensive system as a rookie and held onto the ball too long, resulting in his league-most sack count (68). If he can clean up the details and find his footing in Johnson’s offense, though, he could easily become the franchise’s first 4,000-yard passer in 2025 — and then some.
Rome Odunze, WR
GettyBears wide receiver Rome Odunze.
Odunze, the Bears’ other 2024 first-round pick, ran some excellent routes and put good catches on tape during his rookie season despite routinely playing the No. 3 role behind veterans D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen. He made 54 receptions for 734 yards and three touchdowns on 102 targets and led the team in receiving yards in four of 17 games, but the dysfunction of the offense and coaching staff put him in a similar limbo to Williams.
Heading into his second season, though, Odunze is in a better spot in many ways. He is the clear No. 2 receiver on the roster despite the addition of rookie Luther Burden III. He also has a new offensive play-caller in Johnson, who in Detroit showed ingenious ways of getting multiple passing targets involved in high volumes with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta. If Odunze can bury himself in the work and master his place in the offense, he could be the team’s leading receiver in 2025.
Ozzy Trapilo, LT
GettyBears rookie offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo.
First-round rookie Colston Loveland was considered for this top position, but Trapilo — a second-round selection — is a more intriguing case given the vital importance of the left tackle position. At 6-foot-8 and 312 pounds, Trapilo could wind up functioning as a swing tackle during his rookie season, but he will have a chance to compete with starter Braxton Jones for the opening-day left tackle job and showed promise in the spring.
If Trapilo manages to win the job away from the incumbent Jones, that’s when his real breakout potential will unlock. He would need to prove week in and week out that he is good enough to keep Williams’ blindside safe, which is a tall order for any rookie tackle. But if he can pull it off, the Bears would feel excellent about their future while having no reason to panic about Jones heading into the final season of his rookie contract.
Jordan J. Wilson is a sports reporter who covers the NFL and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. He has previously covered all levels of sports — high school, college and pro — for a variety of publications including The Indianapolis Star, The News-Gazette, Springfield State-Journal Register and Peoria Journal Star. More about Jordan J. Wilson
More Heavy on Bears
Loading more stories
