{"id":230973,"date":"2025-05-03T15:47:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-03T19:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=230973"},"modified":"2025-05-03T15:47:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T19:47:15","slug":"a-post-draft-look-at-the-chicago-bears-2026-nfl-draft-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/05\/03\/a-post-draft-look-at-the-chicago-bears-2026-nfl-draft-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"A Post-Draft Look at the Chicago Bears 2026 NFL Draft Needs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2025 NFL Draft has closed, and the Chicago Bears did what they could to try to build up their roster to make themselves better. From the first round to the last, the Bears were very active trading and making picks to try to get themselves to the next level by winning more games and making the playoffs.<\/p>\n

While the dust hasn\u2019t fully settled on the 2025 NFL Draft, some are looking ahead to the 2026 NFL Draft. The pro and college football seasons haven\u2019t even started yet, but the 2026 NFL Draft is already on people\u2019s minds.<\/p>\n

Based upon what the Bears did in this year\u2019s draft and the players they already have on the roster right now, there will be positions that Chicago needs to fill next year that they didn\u2019t fill this year. Some are glaringly obvious, while a couple of others might be head-scratchers.<\/p>\n

A Post-Draft Look at the Chicago Bears 2026 NFL Draft Needs<\/h2>\n

What They Didn’t Get<\/h3>\n

The Bears failed to pick up a solid edge rusher in this year\u2019s draft. Yes, they have Montez Sweat<\/a> signed through the 2027 season, but he\u2019s not getting any younger. They brought in Dayo Odeyingbo, too, and he is signed through 2027 also. The Bears didn\u2019t go after an edge rusher in a draft that was flush with them. That\u2019s a little odd.<\/p>\n

Another oddity is that the Bears didn\u2019t go after a solid offensive left tackle. Now, granted, they may have been focusing on one in the first round. But, before they could get someone that they were coveting, they saw the player or players get picked. Some feel that they then pivoted and went for their first-round pick, Michigan tight end Colston Loveland.<\/p>\n

He might not have been their first choice in the first round.<\/p>\n

There are two positions that the Bears will want to fill when they pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Those two are, as previously discussed, the offensive tackle and the defensive end\/edge rusher position.<\/p>\n

Who They Could Get<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Oct 5, 2024; Berkeley, California, USA; Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr. (4) sacks California Golden Bears quarterback Fernando Mendoza (right) during the fourth quarter at California Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 2026 Draft will have a few players at the top who could suit the Bears\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n

Right now, some of the highly ranked offensive tackle prospects for next year\u2019s draft include Alabama\u2019s Kaydn Proctor as well as Utah’s duo Spencer Fano<\/a> and Caleb Lomu. Depending on how high the Bears pick, they might be in the market for one of these guys in 2026.<\/p>\n

At edge, the Bears missed out. They only spent three picks on the defensive side of the ball and only one on the defensive line. They will have to pay more attention to that side of the ball in the 2026 Draft.<\/p>\n

Some of the top talent that will be found in next year’s draft includes Miami (FL) edge rusher Rueben Bain, Jr., Notre Dame\u2019s Boubacar Traor\u00e9, and Alabama\u2019s LT Overton<\/a>. Any one of these edge rushers would be great for the Bears. They would help improve a pass rush that may struggle in 2025.<\/p>\n

It’s hard to predict where the Bears will be picking in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Hopefully, for the Bears and their fans, they win more games this year than they did last year. This, even if it means that they pick at a lower spot. If they don\u2019t win a lot of games, they will get a great shot at one of the players mentioned above.<\/p>\n

The 2026 NFL Draft could get the Bears the final pieces of the puzzle that they need to get over the top and get to the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2025 NFL Draft has ended. The Chicago Bears did some things to help themselves, but more must be done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5066,"featured_media":231309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[32605,33533,42,8025,4665],"class_list":["post-230973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bears","tag-2025-nfl-draft","tag-2026-nfl-draft","tag-chicago-bears","tag-dayo-odeyingbo","tag-montez-sweat"],"modified_by":"Drew Crabtree","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5066"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230973"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":231311,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230973\/revisions\/231311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}