Petoskey's Joel Wilson named OTA standout by Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson
CHICAGO — Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson made his way up through the coaching ranks with a focus on tight ends.
From being the tight ends coach at Boston College, to the same position with the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions, before eventually landing his first head coaching job this NFL offseason with the Bears.
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Needless to say, Johnson knows what he's looking for in the positon.
In a Thursday, June 6 interview following the third and final day of offseason mandatory minicamp practices, Johnson highlighted Petoskey native and Bears tight end Joel Wilson as one of the unexpected standouts of camp.
Chicago Bears tight end Joel Wilson, a Petoskey native, runs in front of first-year Bears head coach Ben Johnson during OTA offseason workouts at Halas Hall on June, 3, 2025 in Lake Forest Illinois. (Photo by)
A 6-foot, 4-inch former Central Michigan University standout, Wilson signed to the Bears practice squad in October of his second NFL season in 2024, after previous stops in Buffalo, Green Bay and with the New York Giants.
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During OTAs, Wilson has stood out with multiple plays made according to Johnson, which included a touchdown catch during two-minute drills and a leaping play made over a defender Thursday.
"You saw him today with a big catch," Johnson said. "He's kind of had one or two of those almost every OTA [practice]."
Johnson also highlighted running back Kyle Monangai on offense and defensive end Dominique Robinson and linebacker Ruben Hyppolite on defense.
He elaborated more on what's stood out about Wilson.
"He's got a little savvy in how he moves," Johnson said. "He's got a nice route feel about him. The test will really be when we get going in camp how he holds up in the run game and the pass pro game. But so far in the running route section of tight end play, he's stood out in a positive light."
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It's not a surprise to many who have followed Wilson throughout his career, from being an athletic all-state quarterback and linebacker with Petoskey, to an All-Mid American Conference pass catching tight end under Jim McElwain at CMU.
Undrafted in 2023, Wilson originally signed with the New Orleans Saints, before moving on to practice squad stints with the Bills, Packers and Giants, including half of last season with Chicago.
It's a crowed tight end room in Chicago, which only became more congested this offseason when the Bears drafted former Michigan standout Colston Loveland with the No. 10 overall pick.
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The roster also includes sixth-year pro Cole Kmet, along with eight-year veteran Durham Smythe, Stephen Carlson and Jordan Murray.
Kmet signed a four-year, $50 million dollar extension in 2023 that runs through 2027, though carries an out after the 2025 season. He holds an $11.6 million cap hit through each of the next three seasons.
While mandatory team OTAs are complete, voluntary rookie OTAs in Chicago will start back up from June 9-11. Training camp dates in late July have not yet been released.
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey native Joel Wilson named camp standout by Chicago Bears coach Johnson
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