Everybody has begun to hone in on who they believe the Chicago Bears will target with their 25th overall pick in the 1st round of the 2026 draft. Most agree now that it will either be an edge rusher or a left tackle, depending on how the board falls. That is what the pre-draft visits and various rumors have been pointing toward. However, what people can’t quite pin down is the precise players they want. They’ve met with some prominent names in recent weeks, bringing them to Halas Hall for private visits.
This is where it gets crafty. Evidence suggests the Bears are very deliberate about which player names get leaked to the media. We saw it last year. They met with multiple tight ends leading up to the draft, including Tyler Warren, the heavy favorite to be the first at his position off the board. Unsurprisingly, this led many prominent experts to mock Warren to the Bears at the #10 pick in the upcoming draft. Instead, they pulled the old switcheroo and took Colston Loveland instead.
The Chicago Bears might be up to their old tricks.
If we assume they’re using the same strategy this year, then it becomes much easier to pinpoint who they’re targeting next Thursday night. Over the past couple of weeks, the Bears have held private meetings with two projected 1st round tackles:
- Max Iheanachor of Arizona State
- Caleb Lomu of Utah
General manager Ryan Poles was also spotted at the Alabama pro day watching Kadyn Proctor work out. If we apply the lesson learned from last year, who is the one player often clustered with those three that hasn’t been mentioned once in connection to the Bears? That is Blake Miller. The Clemson right tackle is among the most athletic and experienced in this class. He’s 6’6″ with 34-inch arms and is renowned for his team-first mindset. That sounds like an obvious Ben Johnson-type player. Is it a coincidence that there have been crickets regarding him and the Bears?
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Then you have the defensive ends. Everybody talks about Zion Young from Missouri. The Bears met with him privately, which tells you their interest might not be as high as some think. They met formally with T.J. Parker (Clemson) and Akheem Mesidor (Miami) at the scouting combine. Poles was at Miami’s pro day, too. So again, who is the name curiously absent? That would be Keldric Faulk of Auburn. Experts have sworn up and down that nobody is a better fit for Dennis Allen’s defense: 6’6″, 276 lbs, 34-inch arms, and elite run-stopping ability. He’s also only 20 years old. Yet not a peep about him.
Never underestimate a team’s ability to misdirect.
If the Chicago Bears want to keep something a secret, they can. That includes swearing players to secrecy and threatening people inside the building with serious penalties if they let any information slip. Considering how well it worked last year, we can assume the team carefully controls which visits go public and which don’t. This way, other teams get a sense of who the Bears want without pinpointing the actual targets. It improves the odds of getting those players, if just a little bit. Every margin helps.
Look where they aren’t pointing. That is the basic lesson here. Any player who fits this Bears team but hasn’t been mentioned once during the pre-draft process should be immediately circled. Miller and Faulk top the list. Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods, UCF edge rusher Malachi Lawrence, wide receiver Denzel Boston, and Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy all fit this criteria as well. Keep a close eye on all of those names. If the Bears stay put at #25, there is a reasonable chance one of them will be selected.
