Give Poles & Johnson the benefit of the doubt: 7 thoughts on the Chicago Bears in the 2026 NFL Draft

Here are seven thoughts on the Chicago Bears' 2026 NFL Draft class, and how the Bears approached the weekend.

The result of 2025 changed the Bears’ approach

On Thursday night, Bears general manager Ryan Poles made it clear what the Bears were about in this year’s draft.

"I'll say this: This was probably the most aggressive we were in terms of guys that we really liked," he said. "They have to play our style. They have to have the right makeup in terms of our scheme fits. All of that had to be there. If it wasn't there, you're off the board."

That’s the direct result of a playoff season with a division title under their belts.

The picks were a dead giveaway, too. Each of their picks had someone vouching for their high character. Logan Thomas, Sam Roush, Keyshaun Elliott and Zavion Thomas were all players who carried the high character aspect.

It makes sense. This is a team that has its constructed core. Why risk disrupting that with players who aren’t likable and won’t fit into the locker room?

The one concern is that having so many requirements would thin the Bears’ board. It did. But, that isn’t a bad thing, either. Expect this to be the norm going forward with the Bears now that their competitive window is open.

"We were really aggressive with it, so when you look at it, it feels really thin, but that's a good thing," Poles said. "I think it's a really good thing, because we're very selective of who we want."

Forgoing a pass rusher selection doesn’t mean it’s a bad draft

The internet likes to point out how the Bears passed up on a pass rusher. They did, but it doesn’t mean the draft is a wash.

I was curious why the Bears passed on these players, too. They were connected to a handful of pass rushers. Why not take one?

There are two reasons. The first is simple: Poles didn't have as high of a grade on these pass rushers as everyone else did.

The second is the room they have. The Bears already have players they never got to see much of. Laugh if you want about a "motivated Dayo Odeyingbo" but the Bears clearly have him in their 2026 plans. They’re planning on getting him back from an Achilles tear and Shemar Turner back from his torn ACL. Those two never got to play with Austin Booker, who showed improvement in the second half of the season.

When Poles looked at the draft board and the room the Bears currently have with Odeyingbo, Booker, Turner, Grady Jarrett, Neville Gallimore, Kentavious Street, Gervon Dexter Sr. and Montez Sweat, he didn’t feel strongly that a pass rusher from this class fit all the boxes he wanted. I respect that decision.

The players currently on the roster are a big reason why, and the Bears are aware the entire room wasn’t whole at any point in 2025. Johnson said the plan to address that is to coach better, and Poles sees the potential in trusting his star coach.

"We feel like there is some developmental upside," Poles said on Friday. "With Year 2 in the system, we should be able to take the next step."

Make no mistake, though. This does turn up the pressure on Dexter, Turner, Jarrett, Sweat and Odeyingbo to perform in 2026.

I was more wondering about forgoing a left tackle…

Poles had solid reasoning for not selecting a pass rusher. It makes sense that he wants to see what this room looks like when it's whole. You can't judge the entire pass rush when all the pieces haven't been on the field at the same time.

But, it would have made more sense to invest in a young left tackle.

The Bears have Jedrick Wills, Braxton Jones and Theo Benedet competing there. Wills is a former first-round pick who had injuries derail his career, Jones was never 100 percent in 2025 and Benedet shot up the depth chart before his injury allowed to Ozzy Trapilo to take the starting job and never gave it back.

I thought the Bears might want to swing for a similar thing, draft a young tackle who could take the left tackle job, never give it up and be the teams' left tackle for a decade.

But, it seems like the team is trusting in Trapilo.

"We have open competition at tackle, guys that have played a lot of football and we feel confident that those guys will compete and the best guy will win at that left tackle position," Poles said. "Then obviously we feel really good about what Ozzy did before he got injured and we like where he's at in his recovery."

The Al Harris and Malik Muhammad combination is exciting

New Bears cornerback Malik Muhammad might have dropped the quote that caught the eye of Bears fans everywhere.

"When it's time to put your nuts on the floor, you got to go dominate," he said Saturday, when asked about his performances in big games.

Muhammad’s tape reflects a player whose best games were against Ohio State, defending Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, and Oklahoma, Texas’ most despised rival.

Beyond that, Muhammad is only 21 years old, ran a 4.42 40-yard dash and has a competitive edge the Bears scouts raved about. Harris is getting a player who hasn’t scratched the surface of his skill set and gets to develop firsthand. Muhammad knows about his next coach, too.

"My coach actually knows him, my DC in high school actually know him, too," Muhammad said. "He talked about him a lot. Then just knowing his history, just knowing his history of the corners he has coached before and how he has played. I know I’ve got a great coach, that's what I can say. I know I'm coming into a great situation."

Harris developed Nahshon Wright into a Pro Bowl player. It’s exciting to think what Harris can do with Muhammad, a guy who might’ve been a first-round selection had he returned to college.

The Sam Roush selection makes sense when you consider Ben Johnson

Bears coach Ben Johnson’s fingerprints were all over the selection of Roush.

At first, forgoing an offensive lineman or a skill player for a tight end might seem like a head scratcher. But, it makes sense when considering just how much tight end Durham Smythe played last year for the Bears.

Smythe nearly played in 26 percent of all the Bears’ offensive snaps. In other words, Johnson likes to use his third tight end on nearly a fourth of his playbook.

Digging deeper there, it means he’s not going to trust anyone to play that third tight end role.

Last season, Johnson had Smythe. That was a Y-tight end he worked with in Miami, so he knew how Smythe operated and Smythe knew what his coach would want. Johnson needed the right guy to be his third tight end.

Johnson found that in a fearless player who loves to block and will rival Johnson’s passion for football.

"It didn't matter who he was blocking, could be a big guy, could be a little DB, and he consistently finished through the whistle each and every play," Johnson said. "You always love it when you when you take a player and you get a text message from somebody, one of his coaches at Stanford, said, 'He will crush himself to do whatever he can to help the football team.' And it just verifies what you all already thought about the player."

How much does Roush love the game? He’s getting a degree from Stanford and hasn’t even fathomed how he could use it yet.

That’s because football has been front and center for him his entire life, from an early age when he was around uncle Merlin Olsen, the Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle, to now, when he was at Stanford.

"I'm going to come in and I'm going to compete, iron sharpens iron, going to make the room better," Roush said. "I'm really excited to learn from those guys."

Richard Hightower must be the happiest man in Halas Hall

The Bears consult their entire staff on their draft picks. Considering how many times special teams won games for the Bears last year, it only makes sense the Bears would get special teams coordinator Richard Hightower’s opinion.

"Coach Hightower has a big say in this whole deal, too," Poles said. "We want to make sure those guys can perform on special teams, which is going to help them make the active roster, which is important."

Consider what these three players said about special teams after the Bears drafted them this weekend:

"It's a great way to give back to the team," Roush said. "The way that it gets pitched a lot of the time is, ‘This is the sacrifice that you're making for the team. You have to go play special teams.’ But, I think it's a great opportunity to go make plays and especially as a young player, that's how you can make a name for yourself and carve out a roles on special teams. And especially in the league, that's huge. You only get 53 men on a roster, right? You're going have to have really good players playing special teams and that's where I see myself as making plays on special teams."

"That's the first thing that I'm going to be doing when I get into the building is meeting with the special teams coordinator and understanding the schematics of it," Keyshaun Elloitt said. "I look at myself and I look at a guy that was able to lead multiple defenses for multiple amounts of years. So going into the league, I know that's going to be a priority for myself, walking in and being able to handle special teams, not just for myself, but also the other guys around me. So, it's something I'm super excited about and I think my play as a linebacker is something that translates pretty well to special teams."

I imagine Hightower is smiling wide after this weekend.

The Poles-Johnson duo earned the benefit of the doubt after last year’s draft

Rehashing an earlier point: it’s easy to sour on this draft, which didn’t address the pass rush.

Aside from quarterback, a top-tier pass rusher is clearly one of the most valuable positions on the football field. They can help teams get ahead early and close games late with consistent pressure.

When considering how the Bears are content with the room they have, I keep thinking about this quote from Bears assistant general manager Jeff King before the draft where he talked about the synergy between Johnson’s staff and Poles’ front office.

"They know when to pivot, they know when to be maybe ahead of the curve, when they feel like they're behind the curve," King said. "When you are building a roster, that helps, because we can now anticipate and stay ahead of some roster decisions down the road."

The Bears will have to make decisions about the roster next year, just like they did this offseason. They were content with Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker and Nahshon Wright walking. They replaced those three with Coby Bryant, Dillon Thieneman and Malik Muhammad.

This feels like a core of secondary players that will win the Bears some games next year.

The pass rush’s overhaul day might come, but that’s where major money has to come into play. Why not see what the pass rush room looks like when it’s whole?

This front office and coaching staff combined to put together a core of players that could usher in one of the most talented Bears’ offenses the franchise has ever seen with Caleb Williams, Kyle Monangai, Luther Burden III, Rome Odunze, Colston Loveland and the entire offensive line.

Why not give them the same benefit of the doubt when it comes to this draft? The Poles-Johnson administration has earned it.