The Chicago Bears managed to finagle four players in the 1st and 2nd rounds of the 2025 draft. Naturally, that is where fans have placed most of their focus in evaluating the class’s chances for success. GM Ryan Poles knew the strengths of this draft were on day two and took full advantage. However, he still had plenty of work done on day three. Probably the most overlooked player of the entire weekend was Luke Newman, the guard out of Michigan State. That isn’t a surprise. Offensive linemen drafted in the sixth round don’t have a stellar track record of NFL success.
That said, evidence suggests that Newman has a great chance to beat those odds. Analytics experts compiled a chart that evaluated interior offensive linemen based on an Adjusted Athleticism Score and a Career Production Score. The higher your production score, the more likely it is that you will be a serviceable pro. The higher your athletic score, the greater your ceiling in the NFL is. If a player is in the upper right quadrant of the grid, the odds are favorable that he will become a quality starter at some point. Look where Newman ends up.
Luke Newman is in great company.
He is in the same category as several NFL stars such as Creed Humphrey, Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly, Tyler Linderbaum, Eric McCoy, and Joe Thuney. Those are some of the best interior offensive linemen in professional football. For Luke Newman to be mentioned in the same category feels significant. Obviously, people will have questions. Why did he fall to the 6th round if he’s so good? The simple answer is he played for a bad program. Michigan State has not produced a winning record in the past three years. Combine that with having “below-average power” according to experts, and that is how one falls to the 6th round.
The thing is, Michigan State has produced overlooked blockers before. Brian Allen was a 4th round pick in 2018 and has started 32 games, winning a Super Bowl in 2021. People should not dismiss Newman because of where he came from. If the data is accurate, and history says it is, the Bears got a good one.
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That chart would be impressive for Newman if it didn’t include more players that went undrafted.
Here is what you need to know about 7th round picks – 1 to 2 % of all picks (regardless of position) make any impact in the NFL.
There is nothing to be seen here except a very long shot to make the team and even longer to be of positive impact.
Nice job, Erik! This is the stuff we like to see. Break out some analytics!
This article completes the set. Now all of the Bears’ 2025 draft picks have been declared “best ever” by this site. Keep an eye out for the next set of articles regarding hall-of-fame nominations for this year’s undrafted free agent class. Best of all time!