Here are the most important 2025 Chicago Bears training camp storylines to watch

The wait is finally over. Bears training camp starts Tuesday when veterans report and then the team will hold its first practice Wednesday.

There’s plenty of intrigue surrounding the Bears this year. Ben Johnson will get his first chance to run an NFL training camp as a head coach. Many also will be interested to see how former No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams looks at quarterback.

Those are just some of the many storylines to keep an eye on over the next six weeks as the Bears prepare for their season opener against the Minnesota Vikings on “Monday Night Football” on Sept. 8. Here are some of the top storylines to watch during training camp.

1. How does Caleb Williams look in the new offense?

A majority of the moves Bears general manager Ryan Poles made this offseason were to make Williams’ life easier. He hired the best available offensive play caller as his head coach, revamped the interior of the offensive line and added more offensive targets with his first few selections in this year’s draft.

Now it’s up to Williams to show that he can take a much-needed step in his second season.

It will take some time for things to click offensively. Much of the spring practices were spent learning concepts and how Johnson wanted the mechanics of the offense to work. There were plenty of moments when Johnson stopped a play because he didn’t like the way the Bears came out of the huddle.

But fans should be looking for incremental progress throughout training camp. It will take some time for big plays to consistently happen, especially against a talented defense. The process, however, should look smoother and more efficient as the weeks move on.

2. Who wins the left tackle spot?

The biggest position battle of training camp will take place at the starting left tackle spot. Poles traded for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and signed center Drew Dalman during the offseason. Darnell Wright will keep his spot at right tackle.

Starter Braxton Jones is expected to get the first chance to defend his spot during training camp if he’s healthy. Jones suffered an ankle injury toward the end of last season that required surgery and kept him off the practice field this spring. Johnson said during the offseason that Jones should be set to practice during training camp.

Although Jones has started at the position over the past three seasons since Poles selected him out of Southern Utah in the fifth round of the 2022 draft, the performance has been shaky at times. Opposing defensive ends got past Jones on plenty of rushes last season.

Last year’s third-round pick, Kiran Amegadjie, and this year’s second-round pick, Ozzy Trapilo, split snaps at left tackle with the first team during the spring. They’ll compete with Jones for the starting spot. Johnson also left open the possibility of moving Wright over to left side if the coaching staff doesn’t like what it sees.

3. Is the defensive line creating pressure?

One of the best days of training camp is when players finally get a chance to put the pads on. After practicing with little contact during the spring, it’s fun to finally go at full speed at the line of scrimmage and see what a team has.

Fans finally will get a chance to see how both lines look when the pads come on. That includes whether the defensive line can regroup after failing to create much pressure last season.

Poles spent some of the offseason making improvements to provide reinforcement for defensive end Montez Sweat. He signed defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo and veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett during free agent and picked defensive tackle Shemar Turner in the second round of this year’s draft.

The Bears will get plenty of chances to pressure Williams and the offensive line in defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s system. Whether they can consistently create that pressure will be interesting to watch.

4. Will Ben Johnson bring in a new intensity to training camp?

Johnson’s top play-calling ability was one of the reasons why he was one of the top head coach candidates over the past few years. But Johnson should bring a new energy with him into training camp, as well.

That was already evident during spring practices. Johnson and his coaching staff turned up the intensity of practices during the offseason program and held players accountable in different ways during practices reporters were allowed to watch.

It’s something the players asked for last year during a season that quickly derailed. Different Bears wanted more accountability from the coaching staff when fortunes turned during a 5-12 campaign.

How the Bears respond to that intensity will be interesting to watch as camp moves on, especially on those hot August days.