Claimed off waivers before the season, D'Marco Jackson’s breakout has become one of the Bears’ most impactful midseason developments, now earning him national recognition.
In the weeks leading up to the 2025 regular season, the Chicago Bears claimed linebacker D’Marco Jackson off waivers from the New Orleans Saints. At the time, it barely registered as a footnote.
No one could have predicted how impactful Jackson would become for his new team.
Not even the Bears’ own front office or coaching staff that specifically sought him out.
Jackson was a fifth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Appalachian State by the Saints, a team led at the time by Dennis Allen — a sharp defensive coordinator turned successor to Sean Payton.
His NFL career got off to a slow start. Jackson missed his entire rookie season on injured reserve, and from 2023–2024 he appeared in 27 games for New Orleans without making a single start. He recorded just 26 total tackles and one fumble recovery, with little else on the stat sheet.
So when he failed to make the Saints’ 53-man roster this season, Allen — now the Bears’ defensive coordinator — was quick to scoop him up.
For much of the first half of the season, Jackson barely saw the field. Through Week 11, he had logged just 32 defensive snaps and totaled 11 tackles.
Then came his breakout performance against Pittsburgh.
With the Bears’ linebacker depth ravaged by injuries, Jackson played 100 percent of the defensive snaps, racking up 15 tackles, including a tackle for loss, and helping Chicago escape with a 31–28 win. He also wore the green dot, serving as the defensive communicator in a scheme he knew well from his years under Allen in New Orleans.
Naturally, Ben Johnson rewarded him with a game ball in the postgame locker room.
Jackson followed that up by playing every defensive snap against both Philadelphia and Green Bay. The raw production wasn’t quite as eye-catching, but his presence and reliability remained clear.
As the Bears began to get healthier — with T.J. Edwards returning and Tremaine Edmunds becoming eligible to practice again — Jackson’s snap count dipped slightly. Still, he managed to reach new heights against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Jackson finished that game with seven total tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack, an interception, and two passes defended.
That performance earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors — a well-deserved recognition for a player who embodies the “next man up” mentality every team strives to build.
This is the kind of depth and culture that make teams dangerous in the playoffs. The Bears have done a tremendous job all season with pro scouting, consistently identifying undervalued veterans who fit both their scheme and their needs.
D’Marco Jackson is one example. C.J. Gardner-Johnson is another. Both played for Dennis Allen in New Orleans and are now thriving in Chicago after being largely overlooked by the rest of the league.
Bears fans have certainly noticed Jackson’s emergence. And it will take contributions from everyone as Chicago navigates a difficult stretch to close the season. But as things stand, the Bears control their own destiny in the NFC North — and are positioning themselves for favorable playoff seeding.