In years past, the Senior Bowl was an event the Chicago Bears didn’t always take seriously as a serious evaluation tool. During the Ryan Pace era from 2015 to 2021, the Bears selected only nine players who attended the event. Things took a notable shift when Ryan Poles took over as general manager in 2022. In his five offseasons at the helm, the Bears have drafted 17 Senior Bowl participants. That is a massive shift in approach to the evaluation process. While the event doesn’t typically determine whether a player gets drafted, it appears that may have been the case for two names in the 2026 class.
The Bears were aware of Stanford tight end Sam Roush and Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad before the Senior Bowl. They’d watched plenty of tape on both. What they weren’t about was how the two would hold up against stiffer competition. Footage from the new episode of 1920 Football Drive reveals that both players put together really impressive weeks down in Mobile, showcasing abilities and work ethics that drastically elevated their draft stocks.
That proves how seriously the Chicago Bears take the event.
Remember, the Senior Bowl is a majority collection of the best talent in an NFL draft class. Several of these guys will be starting in the NFL. Some of them will go on to become stars. If you can step into that mix and perform at a high level, that tells a team you have what it takes to hang with the big boys. It’s not like the Bears have been steered wrong by this approach. They’ve ended up with some pretty good players that way.
- Braxton Jones
- Darnell Wright
- Tyrique Stevenson
- Austin Booker
- Kyle Monangai
Opinions in the draft community on Roush and Muhammad were pretty high. Roush was considered the best blocking tight end in the class. Muhammad had legitimate cover corner skills despite being on the thinner side. Both have plenty of room to expand their games. It’s amazing to think how different the draft might’ve gone for the Bears had those two not had such great weeks at the Senior Bowl. They say everything happens for a reason. This could be one of those examples.
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The Bears have moved on from the workout warriors.
That isn’t to say they won’t pay close attention to the guy who put together excellent drills at pro days and the scouting combine. However, they won’t be using those as the primary litmus test of whether somebody can play football anymore. Johnson is far more interested in what somebody can do with pads on. That means watching their game tape and seeing how they perform in the Senior Bowl or other all-star games. It isn’t a bad method to work from. The Baltimore Ravens, who many consider the crown jewel of drafting, have seen 44% of their total draft class in the past decade participate in the Senior Bowl.
It is probably a good thing that the Chicago Bears are following that model. Time will tell if Roush and Muhammad turn out to be good players. Not everybody who looks good at the Senior Bowl turns out to be an NFL standout. Such is the league’s brutally competitive nature. That said, it still serves as an accurate barometer. Poles was willing to let it impact his draft board. He’s been rewarded in the past. There is no reason to think it can’t happen again.
