The Chicago Bears placed a heightened emphasis on increasing the defense's speed this offseason. How does that impact Dennis Allen's unit?
There was a particular trait the Bears were looking for this offseason to help reconstruct a defense that lost many of its key contributors from a year ago.
Speed.
General manager Ryan Poles, head coach Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen identified that the defense needed to increase the speed on all three levels.
When Allen was asked about free agent acquisition Coby Bryant and first-round draft pick Dillon Thieneman, the experienced coordinator highlighted their strengths but also spoke bigger picture about the defense.
"Yeah, I think their versatility," Allen said in May. "Both of them I'm excited about. Both of them have the athletic ability to match up in coverage. And I think that's something that I'm excited about. I do think one of the things that we talked about, not just specifically with that position, but overall in general, in terms of our defense was, we really needed to increase our team speed. And I felt like we were able to do that with several of the draft choices.”
The Bears selected four defensive players in the 2026 NFL Draft.
- Round 1, No. 25: Dillon Thieneman, S, Oregon
- Round 4, No. 124: Malik Muhammad, CB, Texas
- Round 5, No. 166: Keyshaun Elliott, LB, Arizona State
- Round 6, No. 213: Jordan van den Berg, DT, Georgia Tech
Each one of those players earned a green relative athletic score (RAS) in the 40-yard dash, indicating elite or exceptional athleticism.
The Bears also made sure to increase the defense's speed with some of their free agent signings. In addition to Bryant, the Bears signed veteran linebacker Devin Bush. Even though he is eight years removed since running a 4.43 40-yard dash at the scouting combine and has torn his ACL since being drafted with the 10th overall pick in 2019, Bush still possess elite speed at the position.
Defensive lineman Neville Gallimore also falls under the same category, finishing with an impressive 4.79 40-yard dash in 2020 despite weighing 304 pounds.
As the Bears prepare for an intense training camp under Johnson, it will be noteworthy to see how the defense's elevated speed impacts the unit.
Can the defensive front win their one-on-ones matchups and execute faster stunts to collapse the pocket? Will linebackers beat blocks to shut down running lanes before rushes materialize? Can a faster secondary smother Caleb Williams' receivers, leaving nowhere to throw?
Training camp will start providing those answers. The Bears set out to add speed to their defense, and the roster now features the playmakers to give Allen options all over the field.
