The Chicago Bears shocked a lot of the world last season. In his first year under head coach Ben Johson, quarterback Caleb Williams’ potential began to show. Williams play under Johnson helped flip the Bears from the only team in the NFC North to not make the playoffs in 2024, into the division winner in 2025. Among their 11-6 record, they had a league-leading six fourth-quarter comebacks. Williams not only broke the franchise’s all-time passing record, 3,942 yards, but also displayed some of the most jaw-dropping plays on the field that helped Chicago advance to the Divisional round of the playoffs.
And despite all this success, NFL Network reporter Stacey Dales believes the world barely saw what he and this team are truly capable of. Dales joined 104.3 The Score to talk about Chicago’s upcoming season. During her appearance, she suggested the league might not be prepared to handle the Bears’ offense next year.
“I’m telling you, Caleb Williams and this offense, this league is forecasting something is coming,” Dales stated. “Year two with Ben, you’re gonna see Caleb do things that we didn’t even come close to scratching the surface… Caleb Williams is gonna light this thing up.”
She also reportedly noted that the remaining NFC North teams all targeted defensive players heavily in the draft and that the league believes it’s because they fear Caleb Williams and the Bears.
14 of the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, and Minnesota Vikings, 22 total draft selections on the defensive side of the football.
If this report is indeed accurate, then it is everything the Bears’ organization could have hoped for when they selected Williams with the first overall pick in 2024.
Williams’ talent is immense, and bringing in Johnson to help refine him appears to have been the perfect catalyst to transform him into one of the most dangerous signal callers across the entire league.
Bears Receive First Look at Dillon Thieneman At Rookie Minicamp
GettySafety Dillon Thieneman was selected by the Chicago Bears with the 25th pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Bears officially kicked off their Rookie Minicamp at Halas Hall on Thursday, May 8. The organization finally got to see their seven draft picks and 13 undrafted free agents hit the field.
Among them is first-round pick safety Dillon Thieneman out of Oregon.
“You get kind of nervous before you get out there on the field,” Thieneman admitted in his opening press conference of Minicamp. “And then you get out there, and you’re just like, I’m playing football again. We’re in the NFL right now, so…that’s awesome.”
Nerves certainly didn’t appear to last long as videos have emerged of Thieneman flying through the drills at camp.
Rookie Minicamp is the first stop of the Bears’ offseason program, and before anyone knows it, kickoff will be right around the corner.
The biggest question is who Chicago will be preparing to face in Week One? The NFL just announced that fans will get an answer very soon.
NFL Schedule To Be Released on May 14th
The NFL revealed today that each team’s official schedule for the 2026 season will drop on May 14th. It was rumored that Chicago may, in fact, be featured in the season-opening kickoff matchup against the reigning Super Bowl LX Champion Seattle Seahawks. Fans will have to wait until Thursday to learn the truth, but regardless, the organization will be looking to prove their worth all over again, and a tough test right off the bat would certainly be welcome by Johnson and co.
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