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The Chicago Bears are coming off a season in which they went 11-6 and won the NFC North. In 2026, they are hoping to be even better and separate themselves further from the rest of the division. After making it to the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs last season, the expectation is that they will go even further this upcoming year.
In order for that to happen, their young core of players who showed a great deal of improvement in 2025 under head coach Ben Johnson must take even more steps forward. If they do so, not only will Chicago go even further in the postseason, but those players will also get some well-deserved recognition.

Two of the stars that emerged as some of the brightest young players in the NFL last year were Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and tight end Colston Loveland. In a recent article posted by Sports Illustrated, Connor Orr predicted that both Williams and Loveland will be among the first-time Pro Bowlers in 2026.
On Williams, Orr wrote, in part, “Williams is now expected to have the season this year that Jayden Daniels was expected to have a year ago, which creates both perilous expectations and relentless hype. The difference, I think, is that Williams’s sack avoidance will remain an elite trait for at least another few seasons of his peak athleticism, which will allow him to buy time and capture more chunk-downfield plays.”
And on Loveland, “Loveland is sort of a hyperextension of Sean McVay’s and Kyle Shanahan’s quest to create the perfectly amoebic offense that plays like several different personnel groupings. We saw him capably catching passes out wide last year and even out of the backfield as a fullback (it wasn’t just Tyler Warren).
“Loveland impressed me the most, though, when watching his second-nature reaction to moments when Caleb Williams was scrambling or turning his back to the field. Loveland knew exactly where and when to break and caught a healthy number of additional balls simply due to his developing relationship with Williams.”
Williams, of course, has gained national attention as the player who will don the cover of the next Madden video game. Loveland, meanwhile, is arguably the best tight end in his division, one that many believe has the best depth at the position in the NFL.
If both Williams and Loveland are able to take steps forward from the seasons they had in 2025, Chicago is going to have a special year on offense.
Follow me on Twitter at @theotherRobin19, and follow us @ChiCitySports23. You can also reach out to Robin Adams via email at robadams14@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Chicago sports, click here! Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Blackhawks
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