The Chicago Bears get a week to enjoy some well-earned rest following a stressful 27-24 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
on Sunday night. In a game where Caleb Williams tossed four interceptions and the offense didn't score a touchdown for the final three quarters, Chicago gutted out a tough win to improve to 7-2 on the season, which got them back into first place in the NFC North since Week 1.After four wins in a row and three prime-time showings, the Bears are on their bye for Week 10 before returning to action against the New Orleans Saints the following Sunday. The team will look to regroup and get healthy before the final eight games of the season.
With the Bears just past the proverbial midway point of the season, let's take a look
and see whose stock is rising in recent weeks and who may be falling:
Bear up: WR Luther Burden III
Development in the NFL isn't linear, but wide receiver Luther Burden is taking all of the steps that were expected of him heading into Year 2. Burden has become the spark on the Bears' offense, lighting up the passing game when called upon. Through nine games, Burden is just eight yards shy of his rookie total (652) and has doubled his touchdowns from two to four, three of which have come in the last three games. He's also eclipsed 90 receiving yards three times in his last four games.
More impressive, however, has been the growth of his route tree and confidence in the offense. Burden isn't just running curls and deep posts; he's working the middle of the field and making tacklers miss in the process. He has seven missed tackles already compared with just one last year. He and Williams have found something together, and they're only getting better.
Bear down: RB D'Andre Swift
It's hard to say running back D'Andre Swift's stock is falling just one week after he rushed for three touchdowns to reach double-digits for the first time in his career, but the veteran isn't producing like he was earlier in the year. Swift is averaging just a hair over three yards per carry since Week 5, when Kyle Monangai was injured. The touchdowns have been there, but a lot of the production outside of the red zone has been lacking.
Part of the reason for Swift's ineffectiveness has been the defense he's faced. Tampa and Seattle both have top rushing defenses, and the Bears played them in back-to-back games. But Swift also could be banged up, too. He's taken plenty of shots in recent weeks and had two games of 20+ carries before last Sunday. Hopefully Swift can get his body right during the break and Monangai can return to the lineup. With those two together, they can do much more damage in the run game.
Bear up: LT Theo Benedet
Who would have thought that the best left tackle on the team would be the one literally no one picked to win the competition during training camp? Bracton Jones, Jedrick Wills, and Kiran Amegadjie all competed to be the team's starting left tackle, while Ozzy Trapilo recovered from a serious knee injury, and none of them are left standing in mid-November. Jones got hurt, while Amegadjie and Wills were ineffective at best.
That left Theo Benedet as the next man up following Jones' injury, and he's taken the job and hasn't looked back. In 267 pass blocking snaps, Benedet has allowed just one sack and three hits. He's struggled at times and does get help playing next to Joe Thuney, but Benedet is playing the best football of his professional career right now. In fact, Trapilo is fully healthy and could take his job back. Benedet isn't allowing that, though. He could be the team's top tackle option the rest of the way.
Bear down: C Garrett Bradbury
If the center position only needed an excellent communicator, Garrett Bradbury would be one of the best in the league. Unfortunately, he needs to block too, and those skills just aren't as good. Bradbury is the weak link of the line right now and has struggled to hold down the middle of the offensive line in recent weeks.
After Week 8's win over the Seahawks, Bradbury ranked 27th out of 32 qualified centers in PFF pass blocking grade, according to CSHN's Clay Harbor. Like Swift, it's important to give Bradbury grace since he went up against two of the best defensive fronts in football, but his play has left a bit to be desired lately. It's worth wondering if we'll see Logan Jones anytime soon.
Bear up: WR Rome Odunze outside of the red zone
Rome Odunze has been an enigma throughout the first half of the 2026 season. At times, he looks like a bona fide WR1. Odunze has come down with some of the toughest catches of the season, like his back-breaking grab in the New England Patriots game or those in the middle of the field against the Seattle Seahawks. If Odunze has room to roam (no pun intended), then he's effective in the passing game. And you can tell his chemistry with Williams is better than it has ever been.
Bear down: WR Rome Odunze inside of the red zone
The problems with Odunze are almost exclusively reserved for the red zone. He has made too many drops or miscues when trying to score touchdowns. There have been double clutches, not getting his feet down, and straight drops that eliminate scores or big plays. Throughout the season and especially the last three weeks, Odunze has dropped multiple easy catches in the end zone. Though he did get his first touchdown of the year on a nice red zone roll-out from Williams, Odunze must get more consistent in scoring situations.
Bear up: DT Jeffery Simmons
The expectations for Jeffery Simmons were as lofty as they came when he arrived in Chicago, and he's somehow exceeded them through two games. Simmons has not only been a monster in his own right, but he has elevated the play of nearly everyone around him. In two games, Simmons has totaled 10 tackles (three for loss), two sacks, two QB hits, and two passes defensed.
Teams are having to double and sometimes triple team him to try and slow him down. And even when they do, his teammates are usually there to take advantage of the situation. Simmons leads all defensive tackles in sacks and could become the first Bear at his position to reach double digits since Steve McMichael.
Bear up: DE Austin Booker
Don't look now, but Austin Booker is quietly having a career year. In his third season, the defensive end out of Kansas already has new career highs in sacks (five), solo tackles (20), and tackles for loss (six). Booker has turned a corner from a pass rushing specialist to someone who can also play the run well. And he's not only doing it on defense, either.
Booker made a big special teams play against the Seahawks to block an extra point to help keep Seattle at bay. It seems no matter where he's at on the field, Booker is making something happen with his relentless motor.
Bear down: DT Neville Gallimore
Simmons has transformed the defensive line, but not everyone is taking advantage of their playing time. Defensive tackle Neville Gallimore has been invisible for much of the season, and now he's even more of an afterthought.
Gallimore has just four total pressures and three hurries all season long. His role had been diminishing prior to Kentavius Street's injury in Week 8, but he seems to do very little when he gets snaps on defense. Perhaps we see him step up in relief of Simmons and Grady Jarrett during the final part of the season, but this signing hasn't been what the Bears were hoping for.
Bear up: LB Devin Bush
Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the Simmons deal has been linebacker Devin Bush. The Bears signed Bush this offseason to be their speedy linebacker after a career revitalization with the Cleveland Browns. He excelled there while playing behind Myles Garrett and now gets another ass-kicking defensive lineman to play off of in Simmons.
In the last two weeks, Bush looks like a different player. He has 15 total tackles (two for loss), a sack, and two passes defensed. His play goes beyond the box score, though. Bush looks more instinctive and is flying to the ball like we haven't seen this year. He made a huge difference against Tampa Bay on Sunday. It helps when the defensive line can occupy so much of the offensive line's attention, but Bush is more than earning his new deal with his play as of late.
Bear up: DB Cam Lewis
If there's an unsung hero of the Bears defense through nine weeks of the season, it's Cam Lewis. The versatile defensive back has had to play multiple roles already and has been very effective no matter where he's lined up. Lewis is laying the thunder on big hits to disrupt passing plays and save touchdowns, and he got his first interception of the season last week against the Buccaneers.
Lewis is someone that you can tell is becoming much more comfortable in the defense with what he's asked to do. The chemistry he's developing with Dillon Thieneman and the other cornerbacks is noticeable, and he wasn't even supposed to be in this position as he's filling in for Coby Bryant. Lewis may go down as one of Ryan Poles' most important signings if the Bears maintain their level of play into the back half of the season.
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bear up, Bear down: Whose stock is rising and falling at the bye
