'Get a damn ring:' Jonah Jackson plans to lower the boom for the 2025 Chicago Bears
Ben Johnson's first order of business? Trading for an old friend. Go Long chats with the man who calls himself "Elmer's Glue" on this Bears line. He'll bring the muscle. He's much needed.
The day Jonah Jackson was traded, one group chat lit up his phone. First, former teammate Frank Ragnow offered congratulations. A nice gesture. Standard procedure. But next? Their former coordinator — X ‘n O mastermind Ben Johnson — shared a trick play from their Detroit Lions days together, a play that Jackson promises put his athleticism on full display. He doesn’t want to share specifics because, hell, Johnson may implement this one shining moment into a future gameplan.
Everyone cracked up.
But this text was also a subtle reminder that a new era’s being ushered into Chicago. There’s no telling how 11 players will be deployed on a play-to-play basis this season. Innovation shall reign.
And as much as football evolves decade… to decade… to decade… to decade, one truth endures: Nothing is possible without badasses along the line of scrimmage. Until all 32 owners eradicate violence from the sport, your 300-pounders must maul their 300-pounders to accomplish anything through a 60-minute game. Johnson understands this. All wizardry, deception, trickeration and quarterback success in Detroit demanded brawlers setting a mafioso tone. Johnson took the job because he sees potential greatness in 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, yet this quarterback was was also sacked 68 times as a rookie. Third-most in NFL history.
So his first order of business was swift. The Bears traded a sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams for the 6-foot-4, 315-pound Jackson. Not only did they absorb a contract the Rams wanted to shed — they extended the guard. He’ll make $52.5 million over three years.
We can fawn over Williams’ playmaking and this receiving corps. The Bears — all teams for that matter — can only turn 5-12 into 12-5 by dominating up front.
Jonah Jackson was identified as a core piece to make this a reality.
“What I bring to the offensive line room, in a leadership role, is my work ethic, my effort and strain down-in and down-out,” he says. “I feel like my ability to gel the group together, we always used to joke around and call me the glue: Elmer’s Glue. Bringing the group together as a tough-nosed O-Lineman ready to work and protect the guy behind me.”
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Once again, the Bears are the dreaded, unofficial “Offseason Champs.” No team manufactures hope quite like the Charlatans of the Midway. Ryan Poles is quite fortunate to have this fourth season as the team’s general manager. But this wave of spending doesn’t feel like a sugar high bound to send the team crashing to the NFC North basement one month into the season. The Bears added the sort of players capable of bringing “take the north” rhetoric to life. Jackson, Joe Thuney and Drew Dalman supply long-overdue toughness to the interior. Most importantly, all excuses for the team’s prized possession (Williams) have officially been eliminated.
Winning demands “Elmer’s Glue.”
Our longtime readers will recall Jackson and those crowbar-clutching Lions from this 2022 piece.
A lot has happened in Jackson’s life the last three seasons. He helped fuel one of the league’s most stunning turnarounds — the Lions are now an NFC power, fresh off a 15-2 season. Up close, Jackson saw firsthand what goes into truly changing a “culture,” a word spewed often through Halas Hall. It’s not something that can be spoken into existence via press conferences and team meetings.
It must become contagious through action. Work, work and work alone is how the Bears finally become a force again.
“Diving into the playbook,” he says. “Having a full understanding of the gameplan and then executing it. Understanding what the opponent across from you is going to do and being able to put points on the board because great defenses win, but 40-plus points can win a game, too.”
The last time we chatted with Jackson, he detailed what he lost in life: his grandmother. More of a “second Mom,” Patricia Jackson survived seven strokes before cancer eventually took her life. Jonah, college-aged then, was the last person in the hospital room. (“A scarring experience.”)
This time, he cannot wait to discuss everything he’s gained in life. Jackson is now married with two kids. Lilah was born in May 2023; Kane in June 2024. “I’ve got even more of a why now,” Jackson says. Two under two isn’t a stroll in the parenting park but that’s the point the Chappell Roans of the world miss. Hard times create an overwhelming sense of purpose, fulfillment. When he wakes up in the morning, Jackson now feels more driven to excel in football than at any point in his life. Kids change you.
“Survival skills — now you’ve got to provide,” Jackson says. “And granted, I love the game and everything. And it was great being a young guy and not having too many obligations, but now you’ve got kids to take care of. You’ve got a wife. It brings more motivation. Sometimes, the why fizzles out and you find a new one. Being with my kids has been great. Nothing cooler. I couldn’t imagine growing up as a kid and having your Dad being in the NFL. Imagine that. Your Dad’s playing the NFL and you get to go on the sidelines at games and interact with freaking superstars. It’s nuts.”
Which explains how Jackson managed to stay calm through a nightmarish season with the Rams.
First came the broken scapula the second week of training camp. (“The freakiest of accidents.”) During a third-down pass rush drill, the force of his punch cracked the bone. When he re-watched the clip with Rams staffers, they couldn’t believe it. It looked so innocent, so routine. But the scapula is “pretty damn big,” Jackson says, and controls more movement than he ever realized. One small crack was enough. The Rams’ VP of sports medicine Reggie Scott told Jackson this was only the second time in his 15-year career with the team he had ever seen this injury.
Jackson took four weeks off, returned, played in the Rams’ home opener and then re-cracked that scapula in the second half of Game No. 2. This forced him to miss another eight weeks to let the bone fully heal. Upon returning, he started one game at center and was benched for the season. Sean McVay, for whatever reason, didn’t want to see his investment through at that investment’s natural position: guard. Jackson spent the rest of the season on the Rams’ scout team.
Initially, he admits the benching was downright humiliating. The O-Line room is full of alpha males who want to play.
Still, he believes he “handled it like a champ” and did everything in his power to be a role model. After starting 63 games, practice was suddenly his gameday. He tried to make his Rams teammates better. “Shit happens,” he says, “and you just got to keep moving forward.” Indeed, he chose to view the bright side of this all. Of course, he had his family back at home to put a smile on his face — they kept him happy. He also started going to chapel before each game. Hearing stories from people in much “worse predicaments” than he’ll ever encounter was humbling. Jackson realized his benching was “teeny-tiny compared to what other people go through.”
He’s only 28 years old. Jackson also told himself that McVay did him a favor. Playing only 266 snaps last season certainly extended his career — he felt fresh after the season.
As luck had it, the one coach who appreciates Jackson most took over the Bears and was willing to trade for him. The best possible outcome.
“All that matters is how you bounce back,” Jackson says. “I’m excited to get back to it and string a full season together and get a damn ring.”
Back in Detroit, Jackson gravitated toward Johnson quickly as a rookie in 2020. At that time, the assistant coach was overseeing the tight ends. But considering the linemen work so closely with the tight ends in practice, he got a sense for Johnson’s coaching style early. It was no surprise to see Johnson elevate to offensive coordinator and call plays under head coach Dan Campbell.
His football brain’s on a totally different frequency.
The NFL is a copycat league. Week to week, offensive coaches study other teams and steal plays that work. But someone’s got to be the innovator at the forefront of it all inventing plays — that’s Ben Johnson.
Each install, each week is completely different.
“It’s fascinating, honestly,” Jackson says. “You’re never just attacking a team the same way for 17 weeks. It’s nothing repetitive. He likes to call the game to our strengths. So the trick plays and everything, he thinks about how certain guys are going to get out on the block. The intricacies of it are amazing and it’s fun to be a part of because you’ve got a lot of stuff in your back pocket to throw at another team.”
For the Bears to effectively execute these creative gameplans, they’ll need a quarterback who can handle the load mentally. It remains to be seen if Williams is capable. This offseason’s crucial.
From there, it’s simple. The offensive line must bully opponents.
There weren’t many options in free agency with the Kansas City Chiefs tagging Trey Smith. The Bears’ big bet is that the Jonah Jackson of 2021- ’23 returns and stays healthy. If so, his contract is a bargain. At his best, he uprooted defenders in Detroit. When Bears O-Line coach Dan Roushar asked Jackson how he can get back to his ’21 Pro Bowl form, Jackson told him it’s only a matter of being on the field. He fully expects to play at such a level again.
Familiarity helps.
If anybody can maximize this guard, it’s the coach who saw him at his peak.
Chicago didn’t stop here, either.
The next day, another text from Ragnow flashed across Jackson’s phone: “Thuney, too?” Yes, the Bears stole the All-Pro from Kansas City for a fourth-round pick. The Chiefs apparently didn’t expect to re-sign the veteran a year from now and sought compensation.
Jackson was not expecting this blockbuster. His mind immediately flashed back to watching the Patriots club the Rams in the Super Bowl six years ago. Thuney was the first player he’s ever seen shut down future Hall-of-Famer Aaron Donald. That season was arguably Donald’s best, too. He had a career-high 20.5 sacks and won the second of his three DPOYs. Yet a defensive tackle who posterized Pro Bowlers most of his career couldn’t get past this block of granite. To Jackson, it was like “seeing a unicorn.” Thuney is 32 years old now. But when Jackson watches his Chiefs film, he sees the same player who’s never out of whack, impatient, nervous. Everything’s clean. Everything’s the same.
Pivoting the two new guards is Dalman. “A specimen,” Jackson says, whose specialty is sprinting off the ball in the run game. Crucial in Johnson’s offense. Linemen must get to their landmarks at warp speed for this scheme to hum.
So, in sum, the Bears attacked their greatest weakness — the interior line — in roughly the same amount of time it took to call and execute a play in the 2-minute drill last season. Chicago’s hope is that these three vets with deep experience on some of the best lines in the NFL elevate the play of both tackles, too: Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright.
“A good tip of the spear that we’re building over there,” Jackson says, “and it's going to be something special for sure.”
Not only is Jackson reuniting with one of his favorite coaches. His locker mate in Detroit was current Bears RB1 D’Andre Swift. They came into the league the same year — Swift was taken 35th overall, Jackson 75th. Five years later, Swift remains one of his best friends in the pros. Swift rushed for 956 yards on 253 attempts (3.8 avg.) with six touchdowns last season but Jackson expects to sync up beautifully on the field. Swift knows exactly how he’ll block on specific runs. The two FaceTimed shortly after the deal was announced, thrilled about what’s next.
Says Jackson: “He’s got that silly cut-on-a-dime ability, that young Shady McCoy.”
Back to his high school days, Jackson played in an all-star game against wideout D.J. Moore. As Jackson recalls? Moore hauled in two 60+ yard bombs in the first quarter alone. The game was over by halftime.
And there’s Rome Odunze. And Cole Kmet. And these Bears own the 10th overall selection. It’ll be tempting for Johnson to add Penn State’s Tyler Warren or Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty to his arsenal. All Williams must do is anticipate routes breaking and pull the trigger. He’ll have the prerequisite three seconds in this refurbished pocket. His private quarterbacks coach Will Hewlett views this as a “perfect storm.” We’ll see.
Jackson liked what he saw out of the rookie from afar last season. He sees an edge to Williams.
“He took 68 sacks and was still fighting, still clawing,” the guard adds. “You keep him safe, you keep his eyes downfield and away from the rush, he can have fun back there and slice and dice things up.”
The NFC North will be a gauntlet. Again. To refresh, Campbell might’ve lost two coordinators but he’s welcoming back all walking wounded on defense. It must feel weird for the Lions brass to spend Mondays and Tuesdays not scavenging practice squads for Band-Aid replacements. Jordan Love enters Year 3 as the starter in Green Bay. The youngest team in back-to-back years has a chance to make its move in 2025. And let’s not forget about the Minnesota Vikings, a 14-win team that enjoyed a knockout offseason of its own. GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell watched their O- and D-Lines get punked up front vs. the Rams in the playoffs and started handing out checks: defensive tackle Jonathan Allen (three years, $60 million), defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (two years, $30M), center Ryan Kelly (two years, $18M) and guard Will Fries (five years, $88M).
The most underrated move of the spring might’ve been the Viking poaching Jordan Mason to pair with Aaron Jones in the backfield, too.
Bears fans are painfully familiar with this cycle. Hype builds in March, only for Hail Marys, blocked 46-yard kicks and Thanksgiving Day fiascos to roundhouse kick ‘em all in the jaw.
Yet, Jonah Jackson sounds like a man who knows what this organization has been through. And he also knows what something fundamental to the sport itself — blocking — can do for an offense, a team at-large.
He has no problem envisioning the best-case scenario this season.
“Screw the personal accolades,” he says. “It’s to win it all. The Bears are such a historic franchise and they’ve been there before. We’re excited to be a part of a turnaround.
“I’ve been a part of a turnaround before and we can definitely do it again.”
What's next for Caleb Williams & Ben Johnson?
Hope is a cocktail that typically leaves all in the Windy City with nothing but a murderous hangover. Somehow, the Chicago Bears manage to butcher the quarterback position, everyone’s fired and the new hires must start from scratch. But 2 ½ months in, these 2025 Bears just may be enjoying the best offseason in the NFL.
Great write up! Appreciate the candor about winning is all that matters. Winning usually brings the accolades with it, ie win and earn individual points too. Lose and no one cares.
Well, it's April so hope springs eternal for we Bears fans. It's encouraging to hear a knee biter as we've needed them on the line for the past decade. I'm far more optimistic this offseason than last as the O line was such an obvious weakness and needed to be priority one. Bear Down!