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The Bears didn't make any big splashes in their defensive line room this offseason.
That is, unless the addition of Georgia Tech defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg fits an agenda you're trying to push against suddenly insecure Packer fans on X.
In which case, have at it.
Be sure to mention his elite RAS score.
If you've been following along with our position group rankings, you would've noticed that the Bears were near the top in most of the lists.
They have one of the more well-rounded rosters across the league.
With that said, it'd be downright disingenuous to give them their flowers for the current state of the defensive line room.
I removed all bias, and they received a similar grade to the one I'd give Packer fans for their argumentative skills on X.
Rankings 1.
Los Angeles Rams 2.
Houston Texans 3.
Philadelphia Eagles 4.
Seattle Seahawks 5.
Denver Broncos 6.
Pittsburgh Steelers 7.
Cleveland Browns 8.
San Francisco 49ers 9.
Baltimore Ravens 10.
Detroit Lions 11.
Kansas City Chiefs 12.
New England Patriots 13.
Green Bay Packers 14.
Jacksonville Jaguars 15.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16.
New York Giants 17.
Dallas Cowboys 18.
Carolina Panthers 19.
New York Jets 20.
Minnesota Vikings 21.
Los Angeles Chargers 22.
Buffalo Bills 23.
Washington Commanders 24.
Cincinnati Bengals 25.
Chicago Bears 26.
Indianapolis Colts 27.
Las Vegas Raiders 28.
New Orleans Saints 29.
Tennessee Titans 30.
Atlanta Falcons 31.
Arizona Cardinals 32.
Miami Dolphins Where they're trending: Meh.
neutral from last season, but still bad The optimist in me wanted to look at the potential upside of Austin Booker reaching his potential of becoming a true sidekick to Montez Sweat (who is very underrated by Bears' faithful) and Dayo Odeyingbo providing a bigger impact on the interior.
They do have legitimate top 15 upside if things go as planned (which isn't surprising, considering they have the league's fifth-most expensive d-line).
However, the realist shot that notion down.
The list isn't based on upside if everything hits.
If it was, virtually every team would have a shot at a much higher ranking.
The fact of the matter is they don't have enough guys who have proven capable of being serious contributors to ascend out of "hope for the best" territory.
After all, the optimistic perspective would've been hopeful for significant improvement entering the 2025 campaign.
They landed a Dennis Allen-type edge rusher in Odeyingbo, a wily veteran defensive tackle in Grady Jarrett, and an uber-athletic second-round defensive tackle in Shemar Turner.
Those additions, combined with continued development from Gervon Dexter Sr., had me feeling hopeful.
Then Odeyingbo had one sack (which came on the second drive of the season) in eight games, Dexter showed the same inconsistencies that he did over his first two years, Jarrett suffered an injury-riddled season where he looked like a shell of his former self, and injuries made Turner late to the party and also made him go home early (he only played in five games).
Remember when I said the Bears could have a top 15 defensive front if everything went right? Well, last year was an example of what could happen when EVERYTHING went wrong, and it would've resulted in having a bottom-five finish if Austin Booker hadn't provided an impact down the stretch.
While there is something to say for the fact that the players I mentioned above should fare better if they can manage to stay healthy, Booker provides more concrete reason for optimism when it comes to Chicago's pass-rush woes.
He had 4.5 sacks over his 10 games last season, and double-digit sacks aren't out of the question for him this season.
If Booker can reach that sack goal and Sweat at least repeats last year's performance, then there's a good chance their ranking on this list will prove to be too low.
However, the interior of the defensive line still seems sure to be the team's weak point.
It's difficult to bank on Dexter finally figuring out how to consistently defend against the run.
It's also difficult to bank on Grady Jarrett having a career renaissance at the age of 33.
Neville Gallimore, whom the team signed to a two-year deal in free agency, will probably provide better depth than they had last season.
He's an upgrade over Andrew Billings in the passing game (although Big Bill was an occasional force against the run).
Still, he really doesn't move the needle much.
Neither do the other depth signings they made at defensive tackle in James Lynch and Kentavius Street.
Solid depth, but not confidence-boosting additions.
Jordan van den Berg has legitimate upside as a high-motor pass-rush threat, but he's as raw as they come.
That's the only reason that a defensive tackle with his level of athleticism would be available in the sixth round to begin with.
All things considered, Chicago's defensive line has a few quality pieces, but they have to prove they belong in a higher tier before it'd be fair to rank them there.
They're firmly among the league's least-proven units in the NFL as it stands right now.
Jerry Markarian has been an avid Chicago Bears fan since 2010 and has been writing about the team since 2022.
He has survived the 2010 NFC Championship Game, a career-ending injury to his favorite player (Johnny Knox), the Bears' 2013 season finale, a Double Doink, Mitchell Trubisky, Justin Fields, and Weeks 8-17 of the 2024 NFL season.
Nevertheless, he still Bears Down! Follow jerrymarkarian.