After the first nine games of the season, the Chicago Bears are officially on bye with a chance to reset before their final eight games of the regular season and a playoff push in January.
It goes without saying that defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons has been a stud for the Bears since Chicago’s blockbuster trade for him. He has also elevated multiple players around him on the defensive line, most notably his former college teammate, Montez Sweat, who finally looks like the Pro-Bowler the Bears traded for back in 2023. But there are numerous other players who need to improve for Chicago in the second half of the season, particularly on defense.
Here are some more studs and duds from the first half of the Bears’ season, including running back D’Andre
Swift, who leads the NFL in rushing touchdowns with 10.
Stud: RB D’Andre Swift
It is hard to find anyone on the Bears who has been more consistent through the first nine games of the season than running back D’Andre Swift. He leads the NFL in rushing touchdowns with 10, including two games this season with three rushing touchdowns. Swift actually has the fewest yards per attempt in a game this season of any year in his career, but he is also on track for his most carries in a season. Chicago has leaned on Swift to carry the run game throughout this entire season, especially with Kyle Monangai out since Week 5 and he has done a remarkable job. Swift is also currently on track to break the Bears’ franchise record for most rushing touchdowns in a season, which is currently 14.
Dud: CB Tyrique Stevenson
Chicago has dealt with injuries since training camp, especially in the secondary. Tyrique Stevenson briefly lost his starting job to rookie cornerback Malik Muhammad before Muhammad also got injured and the Bears had to put Stevenson back in the starting lineup. Defenses are picking on him because they know how poorly he is playing in coverage. Opposing quarterbacks have a 129.5 quarterback rating when targeting Stevenson so far this season and he has given up four touchdowns, including one on a blown coverage against the Seattle Seahawks. When Muhammad comes back, hopefully Stevenson goes back to the bench because he has been a dud in the secondary so far this season.
Stud: WR Luther Burden III
Luther Burden III has clearly established himself as Chicago’s leading wide receiver through the first nine games of the season. He leads the Bears in targets (65), receptions (49), receiving yards (644) and touchdowns (four). With his current average of 71.6 receiving yards a game, he is on track to finish the year with 1,216 receiving yards, which would be the most by a Bears receiver since Allen Robinson in 2020. No matter the quarterback, Burden has been Chicago’s most reliable receiver and a factor in every game this season.
Dud: DL Grady Jarrett
Grady Jarrett has a $18.925 million cap hit this season. However, he is not playing like a player who deserves to make that much money. His PFF grade so far this season is 56.9, which is in the bottom half of interior defensive linemen in the NFL. Jarrett’s performance as a pass defender has been decent, but where he is really struggling is as a run stopper. Having Jeffery Simmons should help with that, but Jarrett still needs to take advantage of the newfound opportunities he is getting.
Stud: DL Austin Booker
He needs to cut back on the stupid penalties, but besides that, Austin Booker is actually having a really good season. Right now, he leads the Bears in sacks with a career-high of five sacks and is also on track to have a career-high in quarterback hits as he already has eight, which is tied with Montez Sweat for the most on Chicago’s defense. His six tackles for loss are second on the Bears’ defense and a career-high for him. Booker may be flying under the radar a bit, but he is actually having a really good season.
Dud: QB Tyson Bagent
By the time the trade deadline came around, there were multiple NFL teams that could have used a quarterback. Two teams traded for a quarterback, who presumably will start for the remainder of their respective seasons. However, there did not seem to be a lot of interest in Tyson Bagent and that is not surprising after his performance against the New York Jets and the Green Bay Packers. Bagent’s game against the Jets might have actually been worse than against the Packers. Playing against a team that did not have an interception for nearly two years, Bagent threw four picks, although only one counted because New York kept getting penalized. He is clearly a wonderful person and very likeable, but Bagent does not seem like he is capable of being Chicago’s long-term answer at backup quarterback.
Stud: QB Caleb Williams
Clearly, Caleb Williams was not a stud against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after throwing a career-high four interceptions. But before that, Williams had been a stud for the Bears. Before his hamstring injury, Williams was viewed as an MVP candidate and when he came back, he looked even better in the first three games. Williams picked apart the Seattle Seahawks’ defense, which was supposed to be one of the best in the NFL. He has at least one touchdown in every game he has started and finished this year and is undefeated in those games. Despite having a disaster of a game against the Buccaneers, Williams has still been an amazing leader for Chicago this season.
Dud: CB Jaylon Johnson
Who has the most missed tackles of anyone on the Bears with 10? Jaylon Johnson. Who has given up the highest completion percentage of any Chicago cornerback who has been targeted at least 20 times? Jaylon Johnson. Who has given up the most yards per target among Chicago defenders who have been targeted more than one time? Also Jaylon Johnson. He had his best game of the season against the Buccaneers with a crucial pick-six, but he was terrible in every game before that. Perhaps his performance against Tampa Bay will be a turning point, but that remains to be seen.
Follow Bears Wire on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Studs and duds from Chicago Bears’ first nine weeks of 2026 season
