10 Bears players who will benefit most from Ben Johnson: Silvy

Coaching matters. It’s a rallying cry many Bears fans have used to defend their favorite players over the Matt Eberflus era.

There was plenty of blame to go around for the 2024 underachievement, including the need for everyone at Halas Hall to take a deep look in a mirror, but the overwhelming criticism fell on an overmatched coaching staff.

Even Carl Williams, Caleb’s father, tweeted January 19th when a Bears reporter complimented Jayden Daniels, “#coachingmatters”.

Almost as if to say, “yeah, my kid can do that too if the Bears surrounded him with better coaching in his rookie season.”

Make no mistake, the biggest issue plaguing the Bears is a dearth of talent on the roster. If GM Ryan Poles continues to draft and sign players like he has in his first three years, the Bears will go nowhere even with improved coaching. Also, the players who solely blame coaching for their underachievement are guys you probably want to get rid of to begin with.

Although coaching certainly does matter, it is not the only thing.

We’re dealing with highly-compensated athletes who also need to dig deeper than they did last season and learn from it. It must be a collective effort going forward with everyone in the building and I am more confident in the staff Ben Johnson has assembled to develop the talent.

Often, when a player doesn’t pan out, we write it off as a bad pick or signing. Not enough is made over the franchise’s plan to develop that talent. On offense, the Bears have one of the top play callers in Johnson, two former offensive coordinators in Eric Bieniemy and Press Taylor, one of the best wide receiver coaches in Antwaan Randle El, who also fills the assistant head coaches role, and up-and-comer Declan Doyle who was groomed by Sean Payton.

On defense, Dennis Allen is a two-time head coach and seasoned defensive coordinator. Dare I say, on paper, it’s the deepest, most qualified staff the Bears have assembled since Mike Ditka inherited Buddy Ryan and other veteran assistants.

So before any free agents are added or we enter into prime mock draft season, I hope Johnson and his staff are putting together a plan to improve the performance of current players on the roster.

I don’t believe there was a single player who maximized his potential in 2024. Therefore, this is my list of the top ten Bears who I am hoping benefit most from the new staff:

10. Montez Sweat: Sure he was banged up, but so was nearly every other player in the NFL. As the highest paid player on the team and someone who cost the Bears a second round pick, 5.5 sacks and 32 tackles just isn’t close to being good enough.

9. Tremaine Edmonds: There is a theme here as Edmunds is one of the Bears' highest-paid players who just didn’t provide enough bang for the buck, especially at a non-premium position. Some suggest he should be released, but it would not provide big salary cap relief. At only 27 years old when the season begins, maybe Edmunds can capitalize in a more aggressive defense.

8. Austin Booker: The reason the Bears don’t have a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft is Poles traded back into the fifth round last year to get the raw but talented Booker. These are the players where coaching helps the most as he needs to be molded.

7. Tyler Scott: Poles has whiffed drafting wide receivers other than Rome Odunze. Scott is the perfect case study on whether he’s a busted pick or never was tapped into by the last coaching staff. He has speed, something the Bears lack. Can he be salvaged by Randle El and Johnson?

6. DJ Moore: He was misused all of 2024 and never truly found chemistry with Williams. He let his frustration get in the way of his performance at times as well. Moore was just paid top receiver money and it’s up to Johnson and Randle El to reset Moore back into being a stud. Can he be the Bears version of Amon-Ra St Brown?

5. Kiran Amagadjie: Drafting an injured player that needed development made this third round pick’s first year a disaster. The Bears also did him no favors asking him to play in road games at Washington and Minnesota and benching him in more favorable match ups. 2025 might as well be his rookie season again, and new offensive line coach Dan Roushar has his work cut out.

4. Rome Odunze: He has all the tools to be a star player in this league. It’s up to this staff to help him get there. I still have hope he can be the best wide receiver in team history. Having Keenan Allen leave town helps.

3. Tyrique Stevenson: A year ago, we were all excited for Stevenson’s future, but then the Hail Mary in Washington happened and Stevenson failed on numerous levels. Do not sell low on this talented player. Allen at one time coached defensive backs. Stevenson plays hard and can be salvaged with some tough love. Jameson Williams went through a lot of adversity in Detroit but has become an important player.

2. Cole Kmet: Was it bad game plans? Was it Caleb missing Kmet when he was open? Was Kmet not getting separation? His omission from the offense was baffling. Kmet’s good locker room presence and podcast isn’t why he got paid, he can’t be M.I.A. in 2025 again.

1. Caleb Williams: Tear him down to build him back up. The Bears did everything in their power to botch his rookie season. Williams has to get better, too. Don’t most rookies? Johnson got hired for many reasons but fixing Williams was the main one. Johnson was intrigued by the job because of Williams.

Let the development begin. Coaching matters.

• Marc Silverman shares his opinions on the Bears weekly for Shaw Local. Tune in and listen to the “Waddle & Silvy” show weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. on ESPN 1000.