Making the grade: Assessing Bears' players, coaches for 2024 season
QUARTERBACK: C
Rookie Caleb Williams (62.5% completions, 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns, six interceptions, 87.8 passer rating) is an upgrade over Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields, but he wasn’t able to rise above the muck of a poorly coordinated offense and finished his rookie season with no certainty that he’ll be the elite quarterback the Bears think they have. Williams set an NFL rookie record with 326 consecutive passes without an interception, but also was sacked a franchise-record 68 times. The next coach/coordinator is critical for him.
OFFENSIVE LINE: D
The notion that the Bears were giving Williams the best situation for a quarterback drafted No. 1 overall hinged on the unproven offensive line developing into a solid unit. It did not come close. Second-year right tackle Darnell Wright is not Penei Sewell but still a keeper, but every other position is in line for an upgrade, including left guard Teven Jenkins, who started 14 games but was injured in five of them.
DEFENSIVE LINE: D
Montez Sweat was a revelation in 2023, but not nearly as chain-reaction impactful in 2024 — just 5.5 sacks after getting 6.0 for the Bears and 6.5 for the Commanders last year. Defensive tackle Gervon Dexter looked ready for take-off when he had four sacks in the first five games, but he had only one in the final 12 games. The Bears' run defense was already leaky when Andrew Billings suffered a season-ending torn pectoral muscle in Week 8, but it really suffered in his absence.
COACHING: F
As unsuccessful as the Bears have been since the Ditka era ended, rarely have they been so obviously poorly coached as this one. First-year offensive coordinator Shane Waldron needed a leadership-council intervention after three games and was fired after nine. Matt Eberflus’ management of the game, the clock and his team was an issue virtually all season, and he was fired after 12 games. For a team with good culture, it curiously never recovered from the devastating Hail Mary touchdown against the Commanders.
GENERAL MANAGER: F
Ryan Poles had the worst season of all. The GM who turned the 2023 No. 1 overall pick into Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, Darnell Wright and others also is the GM who hired Matt Eberflus, stayed with Eberflus after last season instead of lining up an offensive coach with Williams, oversaw the hiring of Waldron and proclaimed faith in an offensive line that proved woefully inadequate and undermanned. And the good-culture locker room he mostly built showed little actual resilience — losing 10 straight games after the Hail Mary before beating the short-handed Packers on Sunday.