2025 NFL Combine Day 2: Insider notes on Ben Johnson and Bears' draft plans, top tight end prospects and more

Wednesday at the combine continues with a plethora of media interviews by NFL coaches, general managers and prospects who will be working out at Lucas Oil Stadium. Many of the defensive linemen were late arriving for their media interviews, as medical exams took much longer to complete than first thought, which is something to keep an eye on.

Besides that, there’s a lot of excitement brewing in the city that’s just a three-hour drive north from here.

Excitement in the Windy City

In speaking with people close to the Chicago organization, I am getting the same vibe with the Bears franchise as I did with the Washington Commanders last summer. Just a refresher, but I wrote two articles last August about the complete culture change in the Commanders building after Josh Harris bought the team. Commanders employees in the facility were looking forward to the future with anticipation rather than looking over their shoulder in fear.

Moving a little west to the Windy City, it’s a similar feeling with the arrival of head coach Ben Johnson. People tell me that unlike prior coaches, Johnson has laid out a specific plan for the organization and, for the first time in a while, people believe it’s a winning plan.

Johnson is a fan of Caleb Williams, the quarterback Chicago selected with the first pick of last year’s draft, and the former Heisman Trophy winner was one of the reasons he took the job. But Johnson understands he’ll have to strip the quarterback down and start from scratch to get him to the level of Williams is capable of.

The system Johnson employs in Chicago won’t be a mirror image of what he ran so successfully in Detroit. Rather it will be based around the scheme he intends to employ with Caleb Williams, and he’ll build it from there.

Chicago Bears' draft plans

Most, including yours truly, expect the Bears to take an offensive lineman with their first pick of the draft. In fact, in my post-Super Bowl mock draft, I had the team selecting Will Campbell of LSU. And while that is still a possibility, I’m told Chicago will take the player that best fits the system they intend to implement, so an offensive lineman is not an automatic. I’m also told Johnson will have a big say, though not the final say, on who the team ultimately selects.

Whatever happens over the next six months, there is a lot of excitement and anticipation in the Bears building that they believe will spill over onto the field and fan base with Ben Johnson in tow.

Top tight end prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft

Listen to the media and most mock drafts and you’ll find Tyler Warren of Penn State listed as the top tight end in the 2025 NFL Draft. Talk to NFL teams and scouts, and you get a completely different answer.

Most teams I’ve spoken with at the combine feel Colston Loveland is the top tight end in the draft and have the Michigan product as a top-12 overall prospect. It’s not that teams are down on Warren, not at all, rather the opinion is that Loveland is more of a downfield threat and someone who can stretch the field. In a nutshell, Loveland is more Brock Bowers than Warren.

And while Loveland and Warren are listed as the top tight ends in the draft, there is also a widespread opinion that Elijah Arroyo of Miami and Oronde Gadsden from Syracuse could develop into this draft’s top tight ends two or three years down the road. Both are superior athletes with the speed to stretch the field. The fact that Arroyo weighed in at 251 pounds for Senior Bowl practice, and Gadsden 247 at the Shrine Bowl, relieved a number of teams.