The Chicago Bears are expected to lean into the strength of their tight end room even more in Year 2 under Ben Johnson, with Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet once again leading the way and Sam Roush stepping into a vital role for what could be the next steps.
Johnson and the Bears were among the teams to use 13 personnel–one running back and three tight ends–at the highest rate last season.
Relying on that look is not for everyone, though, warns the reigning MVP, Matthew Stafford.
Bears Get Vote of Confidence Amid League-Wide Trend
Ben Johnson, Bears Built to Ride NFL Wave
Roush was a replacement for Bears free agent Durham Smythe (Baltimore Ravens), but he was also part of a league-wide trend of tight ends viewed as strong blockers coming off the board sooner than projected before the cycle. He gives the Bears a strong trio of options.
The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen believes the “Bears are one of the few teams that can hop on the Rams 13 personnel trend.”
Nguyen made it clear “they have the play caller and personnel to do it,” including examples.
The Bears tied for the third-most “explosive plays out of 13 personnel last season, per Nguyen in a post n X on June 23. However, the gap between them and the No. 1 team–the Los Angeles Rams–was substantial.
No team utilized those looks more than LA last season, and they figure to lead the way again in 2026.
Nevertheless, the Bears should be near the top in terms of multiple tight end sets in 2026.
MVP Matthew Stafford Gets Honest About 13 Personnel
Stafford, who eliminated the Bears from the postseason in the NFC Divisional Playoffs in 2025, spoke candidly about the difficulty of turning to heavy sets regularly, which he admitted the Rams only did out of necessity amid injuries at wide receiver.
He said that the key to the Rams’ success in 13 personnel is, in fact, the personnel.
Stafford called the Rams “really lucky” to boast several players on their roster who have versatile skills sets.
“People are like, ‘Oh, man. Everybody’s going to be in 13 next year, because that’s the way the league goes.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, they better have four guys that can all do everything,’” Stafford said on “Green Light” on June 23.
“People talk about it as just the X’s on the field. But it’s like, these guys are really talented players that can block at the point of attack, they can catch the ball intermediate down the field; the whole thing. And they’re smart enough to go learn all these positions and do all these things, and that takes a lot.”
It remains to be seen if one of veterans Stephen Carlson or Nikola Kalinic, second-generation NFLer Qadir Ismail, or undrafted rookie Hayden Large can be that fourth option.
Bears Offense Could Reach Another Level in 2026
Johnson has notably had Caleb Williams study Stafford last offseason. If they continued that this offseason, they surely gleaned a thing or two on how to operate out of 13 personnel. That should inspire confidence that the Bears can indeed increase the rate at which they turn to those looks, even if they still do not come close to what LA did in 2025.
That should also allow the Bears to minimize their exposure at left tackle, where Braxton Jones appeared to have the inside track to replace the injured Ozzy Trapilo at the end of the offseason program.
It will be up to Johnson to keep the Bears up to speed on, if not ahead of, the current trends.
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