The Chicago Bears taking Zavion Thomas in the 3rd round of the 2026 NFL draft was a surprise. While losing D.J. Moore to a trade meant they could use some depth at the position, most didn’t expect the team to address it until day three of the draft. What made it even stranger is that experts saw Thomas as more of a special teams asset than a wide receiver. He’d never been overly productive on offense in college, but did have three touchdowns as a returner. Usually, you don’t take players like that so early.
Head coach Ben Johnson stated that the decision was based on several factors. One was the return ability, but that wasn’t all. They saw a wicked fast player who is dangerous with the ball in his hands and has the building blocks to become far more effective on offense with proper guidance. When the Bears convened for rookie minicamps earlier this month, they expected to see that type of player. According to Jeff Hughes of Sports Mockery, they saw something else entirely.
Thomas looked far more polished as a route runner than even they expected, leading some to realize he may be a factor on offense far sooner than planned.
Zavion Thomas arrived in Chicago with something to prove.
When your first question to coaches is, ‘Why do rookies typically fail in their first season?’ that tells you his plan was to avoid the same pitfall. Thomas aims to make an impact right away. To do that, he would have to show Johnson and his staff that he can be counted on to execute plays correctly. That meant running crisp routes and embracing his responsibilities as a blocker in the run game. He’s already checked one of those boxes and it isn’t even the start of training camp yet.
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This is starting to feel like Darnell Mooney all over again. Not much was made of the Bears taking the receiver in the 5th round in 2021. They saw a speedy kid with potential to be a field-stretcher once he got used to the NFL. Then, in his first practices, he shocked coaches with his advanced understanding of the game. That earned him more looks in training camp, which translated to a spot in the starting lineup by September. It sounds like Zavion Thomas is on the same track.
It is getting to a point where we must trust Coach Johnson.
He was undoubtedly the one who pushed to draft Thomas when the Bears did. He’s the one calling the shots. One would think he’d have some credibility with such decisions after snagging Colston Loveland and Luther Burden last year. After all, Johnson had a hand in helping Detroit draft Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams. As a former wide receivers coach, he knows the position pretty well. It’s his offense. If he believes Thomas has the capability to become a weapon, then he deserves the benefit of the doubt.
There could be a myriad of reasons why a player wasn’t as productive in college as they should’ve been. Injuries are one. In Thomas’ case, there were constant continuity issues at the head coach and quarterback positions. Two of his head coaches were fired before the end of the season. His quarterback missed a month last season with injuries. This made it more difficult to get him the football. Thankfully, with Johnson running the show and Caleb Williams at quarterback, neither should be a problem moving forward.
