The Chicago Bears have been cagey about their draft plans for the 1st round on Thursday. That is no surprise. The fewer people who know about their intentions, the better. It improves the odds of them landing a player they want and also heightens their prospects of working a trade if they wish. However, NFL insiders gets paid too. They’ve been digging into the league for nuggets on what the Bears may or may not have planned. Several of them have reached a conclusion. They have eyes for a possible left tackle at #25.

Dan Graziano of ESPN was the latest to confirm this, stating in his latest column that the Bears are one of several teams hoping to come out of the 1st round with a top offensive lineman.

I’m predicting at least seven and as many as 10 offensive linemen get picked in the first round. There’s a late-round zone loaded with teams that would love to come out of Thursday night with a new offensive lineman, including the Lions, Panthers, Steelers, Chargers, Eagles, Browns, Bears, 49ers, Chiefs and Patriots. Kansas City could even use its No. 9 pick on an offensive tackle and no one would be surprised. Baltimore could take Ioane at No. 14, if he’s there.

This isn’t a huge surprise. Chicago has no definitive answer at left tackle going into next season. Ozzy Trapilo might miss the entire year with his knee injury. Braxton Jones and Jedrick Wills are one-year stopgaps at best. Head coach Ben Johnson has made it pretty clear he wants some stability at that position. His best chance to get it might be with that 25th overall pick.

The Chicago Bears are in a brutal spot if this is true.

If you follow the recent draft breadcrumbs, many insiders are starting to hear there could be a major run on offensive tackles in the 1st round. It could start as early as the Los Angeles Rams at #13 overall. Then you have Detroit (#17), Pittsburgh (#21), Philadelphia (#23), and Cleveland (#24) all having clear needs at the position. This is before you mention Houston (#28), who many feel might trade up to get one of those tackles for their own line. If all of those teams pounce, then the talent pool will be empty by the time the Bears are on the clock.

That leaves them one of two options. Either they try trading up to get the guy they want, or they shift their priority to a different position. Sports Mockery reached out to contacts close to Halas Hall about this situation. It was made crystal clear. If the tackle run plays out as anticipated, the Bears will open the door to pretty much every position, hoping to land the best player possible. It would be similar to the strategy they deployed last year after losing out on some of the top running backs.

This would explain why the Bears are likely to prefer trading down.

They see the writing on the wall. One thing about general manager Ryan Poles is that he’s been great at projecting how the 1st round is likely to unfold. This has allowed him to craft alternative plans for such scenarios. One that he’s utilized in the past is trading down. The general belief is that there isn’t much separating players selected in the 20s from those who go in the 40s in terms of talent this year. The Chicago Bears only have seven picks this year and several roster spots to fill. Moving down might be in their best interests if one of those tackles they like doesn’t fall.

Based on the current landscape, most believe the Bears will do the boring thing and take the best defensive lineman on their board. It makes sense. They badly need help up front and there are good options in this class. The problem has been that all of them come with questions. Keldric Faulk had limited sack production in college. Zion Young is an average athlete with some iffy off-the-field issues. T.J. Parker regressed last season. Kayden McDonald is mostly a run defender. Peter Woods underachieved given his talent.

It comes down to who the Bears think has the best chance of becoming a good player.

The Chicago Bears have insisted for weeks that they are not focused on any single position going into the 2026 NFL draft. Their goal is to take the best player, even if that means taking a player at a position considered safe. That is how they ended up with Colston Loveland and Luther Burden last year. What remains uncertain is how they will approach the prospect pool this year. Assistant general manager Jeff King already stated the Bears are putting a high emphasis on players with football character. They want guys who are passionate about the game.

However, another comment from King might have just completely altered how people should be looking at the board ahead of Thursday night.

“The medical and the ortho grades drive a lot of the sound decisions we have to make.”

With so few words come so many implications. King just basically admitted that any player with a medical red flag in this class probably won’t be drafted by the Bears. That likely removes some pretty notable names from the list of potential options they had at #25.

• Florida DL Caleb Banks – multiple foot injuries since early 2025
• Tennessee CB Jermod McCoy – tore his ACL last year
• Miami EDGE Akheem Mesidor – Surgery on both feet in 2023
• Texas A&M WR KC Concepcion – Just had his knee scoped

You can pretty much remove those guys from any consideration by the Bears. They’ve had enough problems with health setbacks after last season. The last thing they want is to add players with iffy backgrounds.

The Chicago Bears aren’t in a position for such risks.

This roster isn’t at a point where it is largely settled and the team can afford to take a calculated swing. They have several needs up and down the depth chart. Talented and durable players are needed to help maintain some stability. After all, few teams lost more games to injury last year than the Bears. So many of their more prominent players missed extensive time with health issues. They are not about to test their luck on prospects who haven’t shown they can stay healthy in college. That might sound unfair, but it’s a sensible business decision.

Is there a chance some of those players will end up having great careers? Sure. Health is as much about luck as it is durability. That said, the typical outcome is that players who struggled staying healthy in college don’t get much better in the pros, where the game is more physical. Keep in mind this approach isn’t limited to just 1st round prospect. There will be others scattered throughout the class who likely won’t be on the Bears’ board this weekend. Another team will end up taking the risk.

One must not forget a key factor in this approach.

That is head coach Ben Johnson. He wants a violent, physical football team, and he proved that last year with his hard-hitting practices in training camp. For that, you need players who are capable of surviving the grind. More than a few saw that their bodies weren’t up to the task last year. The Chicago Bears know they must continue seeking guys who meet Johnson’s requirements. Those with medical red flags don’t. If nothing else, this certainly helps simplify their decision in the 1st round.

Right now, there is a seesaw battle among insiders over what the Bears will do. Some believe they are eager to land one of the potential offensive tackles in this class, finally solidifying their left tackle spot. Others believe they remain focused on grabbing a top edge rusher. So much depends on how the draft unfolds in front of them. There are likely to be more than a few surprises before they go on the clock. Maybe some of those medical risk players end up going earlier than expected.

The Chicago Bears have managed to keep everybody guessing as to who they may have circled for the 25th overall pick in the upcoming 2026 draft. Experts have reached out to what sources they have, trying to get a feel for where the team might be leaning. Some think head coach Ben Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles will look to address the left tackle position. Others keep circling safety as the major target. Yet Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, one of the most plugged-in guys regarding the team, has maintained it will be an edge rusher. Now Albert Breer of the MMQB, who also has pretty strong Bears ties, chimed in. He’s hearing the name to watch is Keldric Faulk.

Breer revealed this on ESPN 1000 with Kap & J-Hood. He’s been digging into his contacts for weeks, gathering information. Many inside the league believe that Faulk is the one player who stands out as an obvious Dennis Allen guy. If he is on the board at #25, expect the Bears to turn the card in quickly. The Auburn defensive end has all of the tools Allen covets: size, length, power, and great run-stopping ability.

Keldric Faulk comes with a massive risk.

There is no denying that the big edge rusher has plenty of tools. Guys with his dimensions tend to have long, productive NFL careers. The problem is he hasn’t demonstrated much capability in the one category that matters most. His pass rush productivity was a problem in college. In three seasons, he managed just 10 sacks. His 11.6% pass rush win rate was the worst of any 1st round prospect in this draft class. Having a great run defender is important in the NFL, but 1st round picks should be designated for guys who can get to the quarterback.

What people struggle to determine is how much of this is his fault. There are a few factors worth mentioning. Faulk is still just 20 years old. He is very young and still learning the game. Some also believe Auburn’s decision to move him around so often limited his opportunities to get after the quarterback, which further explains the lack of production.

Even so, he doesn’t demonstrate great explosiveness in his lower body, making it difficult for him to close the gap on a quarterback before the ball is out. He has a great motor and is improving technically, but beating opponents with speed will never be his thing.

So why is Allen so persistent about this?

The simplest answer is that size, length, and power tend to translate well to the NFL. It’s been the case for many years. Go back and look at the players with similar measurables to Keldric Faulk taken in the 1st round since 2000. You’re going to find a lot of really good-to-great players in the mix. You can’t teach 6’6″, 276 lbs, and 34-inch arms. Some of the best pass rushers the NFL has today and has seen in the past 25 years have showcased dimensions exactly like that. Allen coached one of them in New Orleans.

Yes, it is true that Faulk’s pass rush capability is questionable. That is the great fear. We’ve seen plenty of instances where players like that never figure it out in the pros. Wilson, Van Ness, and Ferrell are three major examples. That said, guys can learn. He’s one of the youngest prospects in the entire draft. If his work ethic is as good as scouts say, then he should be able to figure it out.

Jeff King has big shoes to fill. The former co-director of player personnel was promoted this offseason to become the Chicago Bears‘ new assistant general manager. He takes over for the departed Ian Cunningham, who played a key role in helping rebuild the team into a division title winner last year. Everybody knew it was coming. King had earned a glowing reputation not just inside Halas Hall but around the NFL. Many saw him as a future GM-in-waiting. His promotion was a formality. Now it seems general manager Ryan Poles decided to start his education on how to handle the media.

King appeared during the team’s pre-draft press conference on Tuesday. There, he fielded various questions about the team, draft preparation, and other topics. It didn’t take long for him to deliver a comment that cemented a growing belief about the team’s entire scouting approach. For years, it felt as if Poles was focused on players with traits. He wanted to draft versatile athletes, even if they might need some coaching up. Bet on traits. That is something he likely learned from his time in Kansas City.

However, things have changed. King confirmed as much when he outright stated the Bears aren’t searching for athletes. They’re searching for competitors.

“We’re after competitors. The best players and teams I’ve been around compete daily, not just on Sundays in the fall. It takes more than talent just to win in this league in various conditions throughout the season. … Create competition for the roster, create hard decisions we have to make for the start of the season, add guys to our building that compete daily. That’s our goal.”

Jeff King confirms how much the Bears’ priorities have shifted.

We saw evidence of it last year. The selections of Colston Loveland, Luther Burden, and Kyle Monangai were just as much about character as they were about talent. They wanted football junkies who were willing to do anything asked of them. It showed on the field. Not only were Loveland and Burden both explosive pass catchers, but determined run-blockers as well. Monangai was a throwback “run through your face” type of player. It’s safe to say that after such success, the Bears would stick to the same strategy.

Character is already important. Every team will say that. However, some put much more emphasis on it than others. The Baltimore Ravens have long been a stickler for this, as have the Green Bay Packers and, more recently, the Detroit Lions. All three of those teams have had consistent success in the draft every year because of it. While Poles has demonstrated a good eye for physical talent, it wasn’t until recently that he began shifting things more towards the character side. Perhaps head coach Ben Johnson had something to do with that, bringing some philosophies from Detroit with him.

Some notable 2026 prospects stand out under this microscope.

Auburn defensive end Keldric Faulk, divisive as he is, is lauded by teammates, coaches, and scouts for his leadership and passion. The same is true for Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriquez, often described as a vocal leader with tons of charisma. Clemson right tackle Blake Miller is tough, gritty, and completely team-minded in his approach. San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson plays with urgency and an aggressive mentality, never taking plays off. Last but not least, USC wide receiver Makai Lemon is said to be fiercely competitive in everything he does.

All of those guys have a chance to be available at #25 overall for the Bears. That doesn’t include other names who could be in the mix as well. Jeff King has demonstrated a sharp eye for such types before. He was the driving force behind signing Tyson Bagent two years ago, perhaps one of the most competitive players on the entire team. The assistant general manager knows what to look for.