Yesterday, we shared some snippets from Jeremy Fowler’s ESPN article, where he spoke with several NFL executives, coaches, and scouts to gain intel about the 32 draft classes. He had a couple of nuggets about the Chicago Bears’ first-round decision and also their last pick.
In Mike Sando’s latest at The Athletic, he also flipped through his NFL rolodex to tap into their knowledge of the Bears’ 2026 draft class. Much like Fowler, Sando also spoke with several League executives, and here’s what they
had to say about Chicago’s first three selections.
Most pundits expected the Bears to target a pass rusher in the first round, but with the board falling as it did, and with Miami’s Akheem Mesidor and UCF’s Malachi Lawrence going 22 and 23, tabbing Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman at 25 was a no-brainer.
Sando said Thieneman was a player that draft “analysts had widely mocked to the division-rival Vikings,” who picked at 18, so this was a situation where value met need and the Bears pounced.
“The safety is going to be a good player,” one team executive told Sando. “We were high on him. He is ball savvy, has some versatility from a blitz and coverage standpoint.”
Iowa center Logan Jones was Chicago’s next pick, and Sando speculates it could allow the Bears to trade the 30-year-old Garrett Bradbury, whom they acquired in March for a fifth-round pick.
Another exec said of Jones and Bradbury, “They’re the same guy: both undersized, tough technicians.”
Bradbury was a first-round pick in 2019 and has started all 105 games he’s appeared in. If the Bears get comfortable with Jones, it makes sense to listen to offers for Bradbury, who is heading into his final year under contract.
Sando referenced the Day 2 run on tight ends before discussing the Bears’ third-rounder (69 overall), Sam Roush from Stanford. Rousch was the sixth tight end off the board, and four of them went from picks 54 to 61.
“Chicago was really good in the run game this past year, and to get Roush to play tight end, damn, they are going to be able to run some strong-side runs,” a third team executive told Sando. “This guy can block all the defensive ends.”
I like how the exec threw the “damn” in there. Makes you think it’s a pick he didn’t necessarily like seeing head to the Windy City. Rousch was a head-scratcher of a pick in the moment, but the more I dig into his game and think of all the ways Ben Johnson can use him in the offense, the more excited I get.
Chicago ran the 6th most in 12 personnel (1 RB/2 TE) last season under Johnson, and they were 5th-most in 13 personnel. I’d imagine he’d want to do that even more in 2026, especially with how versatile Colston Loveland is.
