With their loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round, the Chicago Bears are locked into the 25th overall pick in the upcoming 2026 draft. If that holds true without any trades, it will be the first time the team has picked at that spot since 1963. The Bears have never selected 25th in the Super Bowl era. The league has changed a lot in that time. However, it doesn’t change the fact that GM Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson face the difficult task of finding a good player at that spot.
The problem is that pick, historically speaking, hasn’t lined up favorably with their particular needs going into this offseason.
#1 – It hasn’t yielded a quality defensive lineman in over 20 years
Pass rushers in general are somewhat rare in the back half of the 1st round, but the 25th pick in particular has been largely barren for over two decades. The only notable name selected was Charles Grant, who had some good years in New Orleans and helped them win the Super Bowl in 2009. Outside of that, it has been a wasteland, meaning the Bears would need a significant shift in historical trends to land somebody they might covet for their defensive front this April.
#2 – Has never produced a top left tackle
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With uncertainty around Ozzy Trapilo, there is at least a high degree of possibility the Bears look to find a definitive left tackle at #25. Unfortunately, that hasn’t found much success either. Since 1967, only five tackles have gone at that spot. None of them emerged as a front-line starter. Two were moved inside to guard. The only standout was Steve Riley, who spent 11 years in Minnesota. Again, the Bears would be fighting against trends that have been ongoing for decades.
The Chicago Bears will either fight the odds or play them.
In recent history, two position groups have yielded solid results at #25 in the draft. One is cornerbacks. Vontae Davis, Jason Verrett, and Xavier Rhodes all went there. The other is linebackers. Jon Beason, D’Onta Hightower, and Shaq Thompson went at that spot. You could also make a case for wide receivers with Brandon Aiyuk, Hollywood Brown, and Santonio Holmes. However, that position isn’t really a pressing need for the team.
Of those three, linebacker might be the most pressing. Noah Sewell is a free agent, and Tremaine Edmunds could be cut for salary cap reasons. Adding a young, athletic linebacker to the mix wouldn’t be a bad thing. Obviously, teams can never have enough cornerbacks. With Nahshon Wright a free agent and health problems haunting Kyler Gordon and Jaylon Johnson, it might be wise to add some insurance.
