Things did not at all go the way anybody expected for the Chicago Bears on day two of the NFL draft. It started great. They added Dillon Thieneman to help their defense in the 1st round. Most expected that trend to continue in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Instead, things took a curious turn when all three of their picks ended up on the offensive side of the ball. Iowa center Logan Jones kicked things off. Then, after a trade down, the Bears grabbed Stanford tight end Sam Roush. That was the first sign something was off. However, the big surprise came with the final pick when they took Zavion Thomas.
The LSU wide receiver was never a standout college producer. His 488 yards and four touchdowns last season were probably his best. How could the Bears justify taking somebody most thought was a late day three pick in the 3rd round? The simplest answer is speed. He ran a 4.28 at the scouting combine, and that juice shows up on tape, particularly as a returner. Thomas had three return touchdowns in his college career, with one on punts and two on kick returns. That kind of ability with the ball in his hands would immediately appeal to somebody like head coach Ben Johnson.
Make no mistake. Zavion Thomas was a Johnson pick.
One thing that was clearly apparent about last season was the Bears’ lack of speed. Outside of Luther Burden, none of their wide receivers could threaten defenses down the field. Thomas can. His speed is not exclusive to the timed dashes in drills. It shows up constantly on tape. The obvious question is, why wasn’t he more productive? Part of the problem could be timing. Thomas transferred to LSU in 2024, where he served primarily as a backup. Then, in 2025, when he became a starter, the Tigers suffered quarterback injuries.
It wasn’t much better at Mississippi State, where the team suffered coaching instability during Thomas’s sophomore season. He never really got an opportunity to play in a stable offense with a decent quarterback. That may explain why Johnson was willing to take the risk despite many people rating the receiver as a late-round flier. Is it a risk? Absolutely. Zavion Thomas isn’t the biggest guy. Can he withstand the physicality? Well, in the hands of a wizard like Johnson, he may not have to worry about that.
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This is Johnson’s team.
That is something Bears fans must learn to accept. He is an offensive coach and wants to build the team’s identity through that. It doesn’t mean he plans to ignore the defense, but it does mean that when he sees players he wants, he will take them. That might sound unfair to Dennis Allen and his unit, but it’s nothing that other coaches haven’t done. It’s not like the defense was neglected. Their top three free agent signings were on that side of the ball, and the team spent their 1st round pick there as well. The unit is younger and faster than it was last season.
Thomas was a reach. There is no getting around it. Based on what all the experts say, he went far earlier than he should have. If he doesn’t pan out, that is a black eye Johnson will have to accept. That said, if he becomes the weapon he is capable of being, nobody will remember that he was a reach. All they’ll remember is that the Bears ended up taking a good player. We will soon find out what plans Johnson has for him when training camp arrives in July.
