LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears have been working on the 2025 NFL Draft a lot longer than Ben Johnson has been here. The scouting process starts just a few months after the previous selections end, so there already was significant effort put into forming a draft board.

Adding new coaches with new schemes threw a wrinkle into the process. General manger Ryan Poles and assistant GM Ian Cunningham wanted to eliminate that as an issue right away.

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They brought coaches in for an extended meeting shortly after the staff was formed.

They made a simple request: Tell us exactly what you need.

That included skill sets, temperaments, character traits and ideal size requirements, everything required to identify proper fits.

“One of the best things we did was, when they first got here, we had (defensive coordinator Dennis Allen) and the whole defensive coaching staff come into the draft room and they met with all of our staff and our personnel people and told us what they were looking for our of each position,” Cunningham said in a Tuesday press conference. “That was super helpful for our scouts and all of us to be on the same page with what we’re looking forward.

“We did the same thing with (offensive coordinator Declan Doyle) and the offensive coaching staff.”

Those meetings told the scouts what they needed to know, and Cunningham said the adjustments weren’t major.

Then Johnson entered the picture and stayed there. The Bears coach never has been so involved in the pre-draft process.

While it’s uncertain exactly how loud Johnson’s voice will be in draft decisions, you can bet a bottom dollar it’s not quiet. Poles and Johnson previously have said they’d work though disagreements through professional debate over following an organizational chart.

Poles and Johnson have built their relationship by spending tons of time together, through formal meetings, casual conversations and over travel to all these pro days across the country.

The real detail work, though, comes from time in the Bears’ draft room.

“We spent time together just in the room and working through the board and having some really good discussions,” Poles said. “I think it’s important to understand in terms of the scheme and how we’re built. And I think it’s going to take time figuring that out — what we’re going to be good at.

“But what do we certainly want to have to create an advantage for our team and get off to a good start. And then, obviously, as a head coach, you have to have the discussions with the defense as well in picking (Allen’s) mind. So those discussions have been good.”

Johnson is committed to forming a uniquely Bears scheme, though he still knows the type of player required to make good things happen. He has been pleased with the level of communication between coaches and scouts, with the incumbent staffers willing to listen and adjust.

“The way we had done it in Detroit was coordinators and position coaches were very much involved, and it’s a similar process here in Chicago,” Johnson said last month. “I think Ryan’s done a phenomenal job in terms of listening to us.”

Allen does, too, and has valued having input in constructing the Bears’ draft board.

“Ryan and his group have done a really good job of going through the draft process, going through the draft board, and given our position coaches, myself, given all of us a list of guys that we feel fit what we want to do defensively,” Allen said. “We’ve had an opportunity to go in and kind of present our thoughts and ideas to him and his and his group of guys in personnel.”

The Bears are in lockstep heading into the draft, as they look to find players who fit.

“That communication up front is super important,” Cunningham said. “It paints a picture for us, so we can go out and get the perfect player for us.”