5️⃣1️⃣ Days Until the Season Opener

Good morning, Bears fans!

If you didn’t get a chance to visit the new Bears By 7 community yesterday, what are you waiting for? It dropped just in time for camp and debates like this one. (Just use your email to log in.)

— Kevin Kaduk

It’s wild how long we’ve been in a holding pattern as Bears fans.

The moment that Rams field goal sailed through the uprights to end a magical season, we knew what the main storylines would be heading into the next one.

And so we’ve spent the last six months discussing them over and over again.

A few new wrinkles were introduced with free agency, the draft and the surprising Drew Dalman retirement, but the main themes have remained largely the same: Questions abound on the offensive line, the health of Rome, Dayo and others, plus the potential pitfalls of a first-place schedule.

Next week we finally start to get real answers to some of those storylines and questions created from new ones. A sleepy June and July is about to give way to a hot August and hopefully an even hotter fall.

So with that said, here are five things I’m looking forward to as training camp starts with rookies reporting on Saturday and vets next Tuesday.

1. What will Ben be like this camp?
Last summer, there was no mistaking we were watching a different type of coach in Ben Johnson. No one on the roster qualified as a sacred cow. Sets were run until his satisfaction was met. Smiles and compliments were few and far between. I don’t expect much to change in Year 2, but the team did rise up to meet his challenge in Year 1. Will Ben’s full scale of intensity only return if his standards aren’t met or will it be there from drill one?

2. Return to fundamentals
Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen attributed some of his unit’s struggles in 2025 to paying more attention to getting the culture up and running than the basics of their system. With Allen pledging to correct that mistake, it’ll be interesting to see what’s different during training camp practices. (Might the first few practices even be a bit more boring than usual?)

3. Which position battles will get interesting? Logan Jones vs. Garrett Bradbury at center headlines the fight card but left tackle holds some promise as a battle that could get weird. Same for CB2 if whatever kept Tyrique Stevenson stuck to the bench in Week 18 carries over to his contract year. I don’t think Malik Muhammad will be ready as a Week 1 starter in the NFL after reading about what he needs to work on, but stranger things have happened.

4. Who wants to take the WR3 spot? There’s no question that Rome Odunze and Luther Burden are the top two receivers, but who steps up as a reliable third option for Caleb Williams? The receiver room has a lot of different receivers at different points in their careers, so will it be Jahdae Walker, Kalif Raymond, Scotty Miller or Zavion Thomas? A big opportunity is there for whoever wants it.

5. Who becomes the camp darling? There’s one every year and this roster contains fan favorites from years past like Walker, Tyson Bagent and Jack Sanborn. My money’s on Caden Barnett (a.k.a. “The Vanilla Gorilla”) but boy it’d be really nice to see sixth-round pick and DL Jordan van den Berg quickly prove himself to be a late-round steal. Fingers crossed.

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