While we haven't seen what this team and offense will truly look like yet under Ben Johnson, we have some ideas based on what he showed during his time as the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator.
For example, Johnson has already laid out the plan to move quarterback Caleb Williams under center, similar to how he ran the Lions' offense with Jared Goff. The same goes for potentially moving DJ Moore to the slot in the Amon-Ra St. Brown role.
But, those two aren't the only Bears' offensive players Johnson envisioned playing a similar role to his former Lions' players. Right tackle Darnell Wright has also received some high comparisons to Lions' All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell.
"He has a lot of similarities to the other guy I played with in Detroit, Penei (Sewell)," Jackson said about Wright. "Just special, pure, raw power. I’m excited to get to work with him, help him get better, let him help me get better. It’s going to be fun."
Wright is heading into his third NFL season in 2025 and has steadily improved his game over the last two seasons. Playing under Johnson with an improved offensive front alongside, he should be primed to finally reach his breakout potential.
Fittingly, Sewell reached his first All-Pro selection in his third season, although he was voted as a Pro Bowler during his sophomore year in 2022.
Playing up to that level might not be the only thing Johnson looks to bring out of Wright's game. When asked if he could potentially switch positions, Wright offered a hilarious answer, but it might be more than the joke it seems on the surface.
"Well, they said I was going over to quarterback," Wright said.
Everyone including Wright laughed that off, but what if there's some truth to that? And no, I don't mean playing Wright at QB in a literal sense.
Ben Johnson drawing up trick plays with Darnell Wright?
Ben Johnson is the master of the trick play, proven time and again while calling plays in Detroit, in multiple different ways. A few of which involved Sewell, his right tackle, catching the football as a motioning WR or even trying to attempt a pass, something the Lions tried to run unsuccessfully against the Bears last season.
"The best part of that was he threw a dime every single time in practice," Johnson explained about the play. "It was better than some other people... Jared Goff. [Sewell] was pretty darn good throwing on the move. He's a freak."
While Johnson isn't with Sewell anymore, that doesn't mean he needs to throw that play out of the playbook's trick play section depending on how well Wright can throw the rock in practice.
We've already looked into ways Ben Johnson can use another offensive lineman in Doug Kramer on former trick plays. Darnell Wright throwing the football on the run could be an option as well in 2025.
