Chicago Bears · 2026 Draft · Pick #25 · (11-6)

Actual Pick: Dillon Thieneman (S, Oregon) STEAL Buy Jersey

Steal. Chicago just landed a plug-and-play free safety with top-15 grades at pick 25, and the value here is absurd. Dillon Thieneman is a three-year Big Ten producer with 10 career interceptions, sub-4.45 range, and the kind of downhill trigger that turned Purdue's defense into something watchable. Ryan Poles didn't get cute — he took the cleanest, highest-graded player on the board who also happens to fix his single biggest hole. The fit is immaculate. Jaquan Brisker is a box-thumping strong safety with a concussion history, Kyler Gordon is a slot-nickel hybrid, and Chicago has been starting replacement-level free safeties next to them for two years. Thieneman is a true single-high rangy cover safety who lets Eric Washington's defense stay in quarters and split-field looks without tipping strength. Cap-wise, the rookie deal at 25 is a bargain for a projected top-15 talent — Poles gets starter production at a reserve's price. No trade. Chicago stayed put and took the steal, which is the correct answer when a board falls this way. The opportunity cost is real but minor — Josh Simmons and Donovan Ezeiruaku were the tempting OL/Edge alternatives, and you could argue Tyler Booker would have been the safer fit. But passing on a blue-chip safety grade for a need-reach at tackle is how front offices torch drafts. Rookie-contract value on a projected R1 top-15 name at 25 is premium capital efficiency. Our board had Emmanuel McNeil-Warren here, which was always a developmental flier — Thieneman is a completely different tier of prospect. Consensus boards (Jeremiah 11, PFF 14, Kiper 13) had Thieneman as a top-15 lock, meaning Chicago got roughly a 10-12 slot positive delta and the SS1/FS1 depending on your taxonomy. This is market-breaking value, not market-rate. If anyone slides further tonight at a premium position, it's an outlier — Thieneman sliding to 25 is the shock of the first round. This pick says Poles finally trusts his board over his positional wish-list, and that's the maturation Bears fans have waited for. The front office had Edge and OL screaming at them and still took the best player available — correct process, correct outcome. Next they need to hammer offensive tackle and interior pressure on Day 2; Aireontae Ersery or Tyler Booker in round two would complete a defining night. Poles earned trust here. Don't overthink it — this was the pick.

Why different: Thieneman, a projected top-15 talent, slid 10+ spots to 25 and made our Toledo developmental projection obsolete.

Actual Pick: Logan Jones (IOL, Iowa) REACH Buy Jersey

Reach. The Bears burned pick #57 on Logan Jones, an Iowa center with a wrestler's anchor but stiff hips and short arms, when premium safety and edge talent was sitting right there. Jones is a tone-setter who finishes blocks, but he's a center-only prospect on a roster that already rolls Coleman Shelton and 2024 third-rounder Ryan Bates inside. Day-two capital should buy starters at premium positions, not interior depth with a fifth-man ceiling. The fit is muddled at best. Chicago's offensive line need is at guard and swing tackle, not pivot, and Jones lacks the length to kick out and survive. Defensively, the secondary is screaming for a single-high safety to pair with Jaquan Brisker, and the edge rotation behind Montez Sweat thins out fast. Taking a developmental center while Caleb Banks, Malaki Starks, and Princely Umanmielen breathe on the board is roster malpractice for Ryan Poles. No trade reported, so this is straight rookie-deal value at slot 57 — roughly $6.1M over four years, which is fine money but steep opportunity cost. The Bears could have grabbed Banks (our slot projection) to anchor the three-tech rotation behind Grady Jarrett and Gervon Dexter, or pivoted to safety Andrew Mukuba, or even doubled-dipped at receiver with Jaylin Noel. Instead they paid second-round freight for what most rooms graded as a fourth-round center. Our board had Jones as a borderline R3/R4 prospect, PFF slotted him 112 overall, and Daniel Jeremiah didn't have him in his top 100. He went roughly 35–50 spots ahead of consensus — a clear reach by every public metric. As an interior-OL ranking, he's the IOL5 or IOL6 at best, behind Tyler Booker, Donovan Jackson, Grey Zabel, and Marcus Mbow. This is the definition of falling in love with a tape guy. Strategically, the Poles regime keeps telegraphing that it values "dudes" over board discipline, and tonight reinforces the pattern after the Kiran Amegadjie reach last cycle. The Bears now have to chase safety and edge in rounds three and four where the talent cliff is real — expect a run at Mukuba or Jonas Sanker next, with a developmental edge like Bradyn Swinson stapled on day three. Front office did not earn trust; they earned a raised eyebrow from a fanbase that needed a Caleb Williams protector or a defensive playmaker.

Why different: Bears prioritized a culture-and-toughness center fit for Ben Johnson's gap scheme over the best interior defender available, bypassing Banks for a positional preference rather than board value.

Traded Away: This slot now belongs to Tennessee Titans, who drafted Anthony Hill Jr..

Actual Pick: Sam Roush (TE, Stanford) REACH Buy Jersey

Reach. Sam Roush at #69 is a misallocation of premium capital when Chicago's roster screams safety, interior O-line, and pass-rush help. Roush is a credible Y-TE — willing in-line blocker, soft hands in the short game — but he's a rotational complement to Cole Kmet, not a building block. Bears already paid Kmet, used a 2024 second on Colston Loveland, and now triple-dip at tight end while their secondary still has Kevin Byard's snaps unaccounted for and Braxton Jones's swing-tackle insurance is nonexistent. The fit is redundant, not additive. Ben Johnson's Detroit offenses leaned 12-personnel hard, so a true Y-TE has theoretical value — but Loveland already plays the move role and Kmet is the in-line anchor, meaning Roush's path to snaps is sub-30%. Meanwhile the actual top needs — safety after Jaquan Brisker's concussion history, interior DL behind Grady Jarrett, and a real RT — get nothing here. Caleb Williams needed a guard or a slot separator, not a third tight end. Chicago surrendered real capital to climb into this slot through the Giants-via-Houston-Buffalo-Tennessee chain, and paying a future asset or late Day 3 swap to reach for a Y2 tight end is indefensible. At 69 overall, the rookie deal is roughly $5.8M over four years — fine money, brutal opportunity cost. Jonah Savaiinaea, Jordan Burch, Sebastian Castro, and Princely Umanmielen were all on the board. Any of those four addresses an actual top-five need on Ryan Poles's own list. Our board had Roush as a clean Day 3 grade, somewhere in the 130-160 range, aligning with Jeremiah's late-fourth tag and PFF's TE9 ranking in this class. Going 69th means Chicago jumped him roughly two full rounds above consensus — a 60-plus pick delta on Kiper's big board. Tucker Kraft went 78 in 2023 as a comp, and Kraft tested better and offered more YAC juice. This is a market-rate fourth-rounder bought at second-round prices. The strategy signal is troubling: Poles and Johnson are doubling down on offensive infrastructure for Caleb while ignoring a defense that finished 27th in EPA allowed. Tight end was not a top-five need on anyone's Bears board, including their own reported one. Next pick they must take a safety or interior rusher — no exceptions — or the room will rightly question whether the board fell to them or they abandoned it. Tonight, Chicago did not earn trust.

Actual Pick: Zavion Thomas (, ) BONEHEADED Buy Jersey

Boneheaded. Chicago burning a third-round pick on Mississippi State slot receiver/returner Zavion Thomas while ignoring safety, offensive line, and trenches is malpractice given this roster's actual deficiencies. Thomas is a 5'10" gadget weapon with sub-4.5 wheels and legitimate punt-return juice, but he's a Day 3 talent at best on every credible board, and Chicago already has DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, and Keenan Allen ahead of him on the depth chart. The fit is contradictory. Ben Johnson's offense values positionless skill players, so you can sketch a jet-sweep, manufactured-touch role for Thomas, but the Bears' five priority needs — safety after Jaquan Brisker's concussion history, guard alongside Joe Thuney, three-tech help, edge depth behind Montez Sweat, and outside receiver — all scream louder. Cap-wise it's fine on a rookie slot deal, but allocating premium capital to a fourth receiver/returner when Jaylon Johnson's safety partner is a question mark is roster construction by vibes. No trade was reported, so this is straight rookie-contract value at 89 — roughly $5.8M over four years — and that's exactly where the opportunity cost stings. Safeties Andrew Mukuba and Lathan Ransom were both still on the board, as were guards Marcus Mbow and Jonah Savaiinaea, plus edge Bradyn Swinson. Any of those five addresses a stated top-five need with comparable or better grades. Picking the punt returner over five higher-graded need fits is the definition of getting cute. On our 145-player big board, Zavion Thomas does not appear — he's a projected Day 3 name in the Round 5-6 range across Jeremiah, Kiper, and PFF consensus, with PFF specifically slotting him 178th overall. That makes this roughly a two-and-a-half round reach in raw board delta, and a full-tier reach positionally given he's our WR14 or worse in a class where WR4-type value was readily available 60 picks later. Market-rate this is not. Strategically this signals Ryan Poles trusts Ben Johnson's vision over the consensus board, which is a dangerous precedent in Round 3. The Bears must double back hard on defense with their remaining picks — Mukuba or Ransom at safety, and a true three-technique like Tyleik Williams or Deone Walker — or this draft tilts dangerously offense-heavy around a roster that finished 26th in scoring defense. The front office did not earn trust with this selection; they spent capital on a luxury when the pantry is bare.

Actual Pick: Malik Muhammad (, ) SURPRISE Buy Jersey

Meh. Malik Muhammad (?, —) wasn't on our top-145 big board, which means the Chicago Bears are betting on something specific that didn't show up in the consensus film grades. The Chicago Bears acquired this pick via trade (From JAX via CAR). Day-3 picks are won and lost on traits-and-fit calls like this — if the team's scouting department saw a special-teams role, a developmental skill, or an injury-discount, that's defensible. We don't have a board grade to anchor a verdict so we're rating this neutral and waiting for training-camp tape.

Actual Pick: Keyshaun Elliott (LB, Arizona State) STEAL Buy Jersey

Steal. Keyshaun Elliott (LB, Arizona State) was on our top-145 board in the R3 range — and the Chicago Bears got him in Round 5. The Chicago Bears acquired this pick via trade (From SF via PHI, JAX and CAR). On Day 3 that's how you build a roster: value compounds quietly across the back half of the draft, and this is the kind of selection that becomes a starter in two years because the team didn't reach for him in Round 2.

Actual Pick: Jordan Van den Berg (, ) SURPRISE Buy Jersey

Meh. Jordan Van den Berg (?, —) wasn't on our top-145 big board, which means the Chicago Bears are betting on something specific that didn't show up in the consensus film grades. The Chicago Bears acquired this pick via trade (From SEA via JAX, DET and BUF). Day-3 picks are won and lost on traits-and-fit calls like this — if the team's scouting department saw a special-teams role, a developmental skill, or an injury-discount, that's defensible. We don't have a board grade to anchor a verdict so we're rating this neutral and waiting for training-camp tape.