With the conclusion of the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis over the weekend, the offseason is just days away from kicking into full swing. While free agency might come first in the NFL, most general managers will tell you that the best approach to a successful process is to take the best player available. For Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears, they have plenty of important decisions to make before the draft, but without being able to project them all, we’ll do our best to balance need with a best-player-available
mindset.
With that, let’s dive into my first mock draft of the 2026 draft season! Please note that this will be without any projected trades.
Round 1 (#25) DT Peter Woods (Clemson)
The Bears not picking in the Top 10? What are we all going to do with ourselves for that extra hour and a half or so’s worth of time! The good news for Poles is that their current needs line up pretty well with how the board should shake out over the first few rounds of the draft. Between free agency and the draft, there needs to be a heavy focus on the defensive side of the ball. While most fans might view edge rusher as the bigger need, defensive tackle is devoid of almost any real pass-rushing presence.
Sure, Dennis Allen and Matt Eberflus run 4-3 base fronts, but outside of that, their defensive philosophies aren’t all that similar. That’s why, for the most part, the defense struggled to keep its head above water when it wasn’t forcing an unbelievable amount of takeaways. Allen’s defense is predicated on the pressure he’s able to force along the defensive line, and while the creative blitzes are fun, the interior of his defensive line is where he prefers to crush the pocket.
Enter Woods, who, for most teams, will be a little too small and not long enough. For Allen, though, he might be the perfect mixture of tools and size. Coming into 2025, many had Woods as a Top 5 prospect in this class. After an underwhelming final season at Clemson and less-than-ideal measurements at the combine, his stock appears to be in limbo. For me, this is a best-case scenario at 25. It’s also worth noting that he’s at his best when he’s playing under 300 pounds, which is almost a “must-have” for Allen at three technique in this defense.
Round 2 (#57) S A.J. Haulcy (LSU)
If the defensive line is the team’s biggest need heading into the offseason, safety can’t fall too far behind that. As of now, the team has just one player under contract at the position, and none of their four players from 2025 are under contract. With Jaquan Brisker and at least one of Johnathan Owens or Elijah Hicks likely to leave in free agency, the Bears will need to fill at least one of their starting safety spots, pending the final result of their negotiations with veteran Kevin Byard.
The good news (once again) is that this class is loaded at the top. Although I wouldn’t completely rule out one of Dillon Thieneman or Emmanuel McNeil-Warren at 25, positional value might win out if it comes down between one of those two safeties or a guy like Woods. Thankfully, this class has plenty of top-end depth, and even if they choose to wait until Day 2 to address this need, they’ll still have some options.
Haulcy, to me, is a perfect fit for what Allen is looking to do at the position. He’s a well-built guy who tested reality well at the combine when it came to speed. His versatility to play as a center fielder or closer to the line of scrimmage should eventually give Allen the ability to mix up coverages more and split safety responsibilities more evenly. There are plenty of quality options, and defensive end and linebacker are two other positional groups that I could see as targets here. Still, for now, I’m going to go with one of my favorite Day 2 prospects in Haulcy.
Round 3 (#89) DE Anthony Lucas (USC)
As we continue down the list of needs for the Bears, we arrive at the defensive end position. Ideally, they would be able to take one earlier, but I’m also going to assume that they’ll find a way to sign at least a mid-level free agent next week when the madness of the offseason kicks off. Linebacker was another serious consideration here, but as we’ve learned based on history, it’s easier to find a starting caliber linebacker in Day 3 than it is to find a quality pass rusher.
With Lucas, the Bears are getting a big, stout defensive end that fits the Allen mold. He passes the length threshold with ease, and although he was just 256 at the combine, he played bigger at USC. In typical Allen fashion, Lucas isn’t an overly explosive player, but he sets the edge well and can move inside on pass-rushing downs. He’ll need to refine his set of pass-rushing moves, but this is exactly the type of player who has enough of a ceiling where you’d feel good about coming away with him at the end of the third round.
Round 4 (#129) LB Kyle Louis (Pittsburgh)
Louis might not be the most physically imposing linebacker in this class, but his mixture of good athleticism and instincts makes him one of the better values the Bears are likely to find on Day 3. His 9.10 RAS was a perfect snapshot of what a team like Chicago would be getting in the Pitt product in terms of athleticism.
He’s a decisive player who can hang in coverage and support in the run game. Over the last two seasons, he tallied 24 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, and six interceptions. He’s exactly the type of young playmaker the Bears are yearning for in the second level of their defense. His lack of size might knock him down some draft boards, but this is exactly the type of player that warrants a gamble in the fourth round. If all goes well, he could be a quality rookie contributor in Year 1.
Round 5 (#163) OT Aamil Wagner (Notre Dame)
The Bears find themselves in a tough spot at left tackle heading into the offseason, with last year’s second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo expected to miss the majority of the 2026 regular season as he recovers from a ruptured patellar tendon. While some might view left tackle as a bigger need for this team heading into the draft, my best guess is that they’d rather roll with a proven veteran for the season, rather than trying to develop yet another rookie.
That said, don’t be surprised to see them take another low-cost swing to add depth to this group. Finding starting caliber tackles this late in the draft can be tough. Still, the Bears only need to look as far as their own division with the Green Bay Packers to see how teams can successfully develop Day 3 tackles into above-average starters. With offensive line coach Dan Roushar at the helm, this is exactly the type of swing they should be taking.
Wagner is an underrated player who tested well and meets the common length thresholds for a modern-day NFL tackle. He was a two-year starter at Notre Dame, but took all of his snaps at right tackle. His athletic profile gives him a comfortable ceiling, while his leadership skills and overall on-the-field intelligence also give him a safe floor. This late in the draft, you’re looking for contributors who can develop, and Wagner is the exact type of player who can develop into a swing tackle with some starting upside either at tackle or inside at guard. With their developmental pipeline in the trenches severely lacking, taking an offensive lineman on Day 3 could be classified as a “need”.
Round 7 (#240) WR J. Michael Sturdivant (Florida)
Admittedly, this is the part of the draft where I’m relying on projections and seven-round mock drafts to get a sense of who could be available this late in the draft. While I’ll take a look at the players and form my opinions based on that, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m ignorant of how realistic some of these names are this late in the game.
That said, I believe that at some point, the Bears are going to take a swing at a speedier receiver who can eventually develop into a role player. Sturdivant fits that mold, even if his athletic testing was far superior to anything he produced in college. While his RAS 9.96 RAS sticks out as much as his 4.4 40-time, this is more of a traits projection rather than anything he’s done on the field in recent vintage. Head coach Ben Johnson brought wide receiver coach Antwan Randle-El over with him for a reason, and getting the most out of project players like Sturdivant would be one of them. One way or another, I would expect Johnson to target more speed on the offensive side of the ball.
Round 7 (#242) RB Desmond Reid (Pittsburgh)
Speaking of speed… and just flat out fun, how about Tarik Coen 2.0 to close out the draft? Reid is one of those players you watch, and he just screams, “I want this guy on my football team, no matter how long (or short) it lasts.”
We can all remember the blast that Coen was, and in many ways, Reid shows a lot of the same traits, both good and bad. Standing at just 5’6 and weighing in at 174 pounds, the size comparisons to players like Coen and Darren Sproles are also apparent. While Reid may never be a full-time player, he has good hands out of the backfield and brings a true “change of pace” to any backfield. He averaged 140 scrimmage yards per game in 2024 and brings some special teams value as a returner. Sound familiar? Sign me up.
