CHICAGO — Overshadowed by much of the hand-wringing done this offseason regarding the Chicago Bears’ depth — or lack of — when it comes to pass rushers was a discussion of how the new scheme will affect the players on the roster.

If the first four days of training camp are a hint of things to come, expect the unexpected when it comes to pressure and the variety of looks new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen will dial up.

Offensive players have had their heads on swivels trying to determine where some of the rushers are coming from, and it’s certainly more varied than what the team did in recent regimes under Matt Eberflus, Chuck Pagano and even mastermind Vic Fangio, who consistently ranks in the lower third of the league in terms of snaps in which his defense uses more than four pass rushers.

More exotic isn’t always better, especially if it’s not buttoned up on the back end, but the Bears are working to put everything in place in an effort to improve a pass rush that was average — at best — in 2024.

“Everything,” wide receiver DJ Moore said when asked about what was different on defense this summer. “(There’s) not one thing that looks the same on that defense. Everything is different every play. It’s good for us, but I’m glad we don’t have to go against it on Sundays.

“They’re always playing, man, they’re always blitzing. But it’s just always a different way to get to it.”

In order to really get the pass rush rolling, defensive end Montez Sweat needs a major bounce-back season. He led the team with 5 1/2 sacks last season, and while the Bears tied for 16th with 40 sacks, there weren’t many games in 2024 in which the defensive line really dominated. The run defense was porous for much of the season.

Sweat, who turns 29 on Sept. 4, was present throughout the entire voluntary offseason program, and that’s not usually how he occupies his springtime.

“I feel like it was important for a new scheme, especially with a complex scheme like this, just to come in, learn the defense,” said Sweat, who is entering his seventh season.

As the marketplace for elite pass rushers has exploded, the contract Sweat received when the Bears traded for him in October 2023 remains strong. His annual average of $24.5 million ranks eighth in the league, and the Bears need a return on that investment for this defense to make an actual leap forward.

Sweat was red-hot when he first arrived and actually led his former team, the Washington Commanders, and the Bears in sacks in 2023 with a career-high 12 across the entire season. Whether it was a handful of injuries (ankle, shin, elbow), coaching, game planning or the grind of a brutal 10-game losing streak, Sweat struggled to make the same impact last year.

“When he turns that thing on, he is hard in the pass-rush game,” coach Ben Johnson said. “It’s hard to block him. You have to account for him. You move him around, right side, left side, makes it even more difficult because you’re looking to help your tackles out with some chips and some nudges and if you don’t know where he’s going to be then that makes it that much harder.

“Met with him in the springtime and everything that we sat down and we talked about is exactly what he’s been about. I think that speaks volumes for his character. He was very disappointed with how the season went last year as a lot of the guys in the locker room were both individually and as a team, and felt such a way, so compelled, that he was here throughout the springtime, which is not something that he’s done in the past. He’s committed to this team. He’s committed to getting better. And so I’ve been very pleased with what I’ve seen so far.”

The Bears signed Dayo Odeyingbo to a three-year, $48 million contract in free agency, and his addition has been glossed over by folks clamoring for more help on the edge. The Bears believe Odeyingbo, entering Year 5, is poised to reach a new level, and he has the kind of size and length Allen covets in the position. It’s worth mentioning that after the Bears traded to add Darrell Taylor as a defensive end before the start of last season, they didn’t get a ton out of him. Taylor had three sacks, a reminder that often times what is actually available isn’t going to make a big dent in what you’re trying to accomplish.

Odeyingbo also has the flexibility to move around on the line, and one longtime defensive coach predicted Allen is going to be especially creative in identifying the opposing offensive lineman he wants to attack in critical situations.

“The Bears are going to use a lot of disguise,” the coach said. “There will be a lot of changing the picture post-snap. You have to have versatile defenders that can play from different alignments and different levels of the field.

“You’ll see fronts you have not seen in Chicago for a long time. It’s not your standard four-down front or three-down front. They will have their base package. They will have a lot of loaded or tilted fronts in an effort to create a specific matchup they want to exploit. That’s probably one reason they bid big for a player like Odeyingbo. He and Sweat can both be lined up inside at tackle, too, and now you’re getting them matched up on a guard.”

Allen has a deep background as a defensive coordinator. He played safety at Texas A&M, but Sean Payton made him an assistant defensive line coach in New Orleans for two seasons beginning in 2006. That’s a great example of coaching by Payton, taking a former defensive back and forcing him to learn a new language and new areas of the game in the trenches.

That experience is something Allen has been able to lean on since as he marries what he wants to do up front with coverage on the back end and blends it all together. Allen’s experience and aggressive nature made him a good fit for Johnson, who has been plenty aggressive in his short history as an offensive designer and play caller.

“I’ve talked about it a few times with DA,” Johnson said. “His DNA, his thought process, is very much the same. We were just talking about it the other day in terms of starting practice early with that pressure period. That’s a good way to wake our guys up. There will be some games where we want to go in, we want to do that and we want to heat up and put some pressure on the opposing offense.

“But at the same time we’re also going to be very smart and calculated when that occurs. He’s got a great feel for that. That’s the best thing about him having all the experience that he has.”

Perhaps it’s the kind of experience that can shift the pass rush into the fast lane — with Sweat leading the charge.

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