The Chicago Bears are turning the page on defense heading into the 2025 season with Dennis Allen replacing Matt Eberflus as their new defensive visionary.
In the offseason months, the Bears acquired more veteran help for their defensive front, signing pass rusher Dayo Odeyingbo and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett in free agency and investing one of their second-round picks into interior defender Shemar Turner.
They also hired new assistant coaches who could bring the best out of both new and returning players at certain positions, such as Al Harris as the defensive backs coach.
With camp just weeks away, here’s a look at the top three breakout candidates for the Bears on defense who could reach new heights during the 2025 season:
Gervon Dexter Sr., DT
GettyBears defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr.
After a mostly quiet rookie season, Dexter took a noticeable step forward as an interior defender in 2024, tallying five sacks, 17 quarterback hits and 39 pressures in 15 starts. While his play took a hit after the Bears lost veteran Andrew Billings to a season-ending injury in Week 9, he looked more like a budding star in need of more help than a player with too many individual roadblocks holding him in place.
Fortunately for Dexter, the Bears made some meaningful acquisitions to the defensive line around him between Jarrett and Dexter. They will also expectedly return Billings, giving them a much deeper well of talent to wreak havoc in coordination with Dexter. Ultimately, he will need to continue to improve his get-off and run defense to reach the next level of his development. But at just 23 years old, he has Pro Bowl potential if unleashed properly in Allen’s aggressive, pass-rush-focused defensive system.
Noah Sewell, LB
GettyBears linebacker Noah Sewell.
The Bears created a hole in their defense when they decided not to tender strong-side linebacker Jack Sanborn as a restricted free agent in the spring. To address the issue, they invested a fourth-round pick in Ruben Hyppolite II during the 2025 NFL draft, but Sewell — another candidate for the job — makes the more convincing breakout case.
Johnson singled out Sewell as a linebacker who had “shown a lot of good things” early in the offseason program. While he has played fewer than 35 defensive snaps over his first two seasons, he has had more opportunities to build chemistry in the room with starters Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards and could be a quicker study than the fleet-footed Hyppolite. Sewell has also never faced a roster competition this open. There are concerns about his limitations given his limited playing time with Eberflus’ defense, but in what is effectively a do-or-die season for him, he could also rise to the occasion.
Tyrique Stevenson, CB
GettyPackers cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.
Stevenson has been a polarizing figure for the Bears ever since his infamous Hail Mary play against the Washington Commanders in Week 8 last season. He seemed to lose his confidence — and his cool — after that moment and never quite recovered either one as the Bears’ midseason coaching changes destabilized things for everyone on the roster.
The 2023 second-round pick is far from a lost cause, though, especially considering the Bears hired Harris — a former NFL All-Pro with a similar physical style to Stevenson — as their new defensive backs coach for the 2025 season. Harris helped mold multiple All-Pro cornerbacks in the same role with the Dallas Cowboys over the past five years.
While Terell Smith and rookie Zah Fraizer will have the same access to Harris’ wisdom, Stevenson has more experience after starting 30 games and recording 164 total tackles, six interceptions and 28 pass deflections over his first two seasons with the Bears. If he can embrace the aggressive philosophy of Allen’s defense without losing his head, he has a chance to have a dominant season alongside Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon.
