Ben Johnson points to Kalif Raymond’s vertical burst as a key piece of Bears’ offense

Chicago’s new offensive identity is still being sketched in the spring, but Ben Johnson is already drawing a clear line to how he wants his passing game to function. At veteran minicamp, the Bears’ offensive coordinator and play designer described Kalif Raymond as a central element of the routes and matchups his unit wants to create, framing Raymond’s speed-to-separation style as something that changes how defenders play every snap.

Johnson’s point was not about generic productivity, but about a specific motion and presence after the ball is released. He said Raymond has a “vertical push” that shows up when he leaves his breaks, charging off the football in a way that forces defensive backs to keep backing up, rather than staying comfortably on top of routes. Johnson also connected that burst to the way Raymond runs the route tree, emphasizing how the same movement carries into what the offense asks from receivers beyond just making catches.

For Chicago, that fits a receiving room that is being asked to do more than win on the catch. It needs precision timing, route discipline, and clear threat profiles for quarterback Caleb Williams to work through. Johnson indicated the staff is watching those traits closely in practices, and that seeing Raymond’s movement and tempo up close has been especially useful for the rest of the route runners as the Bears build cohesion.

The familiarity between Johnson and Raymond is part of the reason the praise carries weight. Raymond previously played in Detroit during Johnson’s time in the Lions’ coaching staff, when Johnson served as Detroit’s passing game coordinator in 2021 and then offensive coordinator from 2022 through 2024. Johnson said he has a “history” with Raymond, and that the receiver’s impact has shown up in the same way across those seasons, even if Raymond now appears older on the roster.

Raymond’s history with the Lions helps explain why Johnson would call the skill set central to his planning rather than incidental. In five seasons with Detroit, Raymond caught 171 passes for 2,185 yards and eight touchdowns. He also averaged 11.3 yards on 132 punt returns and produced three punt-return touchdowns, a reminder that his value has rarely been limited to one phase of the offense.

In Chicago’s spring work, Raymond has been presented as a seasoned presence capable of turning those traits into immediate teaching points. The Bears’ staff has also used early offseason sessions to spotlight how Williams and his targets connect in hurry-up situations. In the first of three minicamp workouts Tuesday, Raymond caught two key passes from Williams in a two-minute drill, a type of look that underscores how coaches evaluate both timing and the ability to win late in the play clock.

What to watch next is whether the Bears can turn this practice emphasis into consistent regular-season execution. Raymond’s size, listed at 5-foot-9 and about 160 pounds, is not unusual for modern route specialists, but Johnson’s comments suggest he believes the speed-to-separation quality is what makes him reliable against tighter coverage assignments. If Chicago’s passing game begins to stretch the field more regularly, it will likely start with the same kind of vertical threat Johnson said forces defenders to play deeper.

Equally important is how that threat affects the rest of the offense. A receiver who can consistently push defenders backward does more than open targets for himself, it can widen the windows for neighboring routes and force coverage adjustments that the quarterback can exploit. Johnson’s message to the team, at least for now, is that Raymond is not just another piece on the depth chart, but a matchup driver the Bears can build around as training camp approaches.