I did a roster breakdown for the Bears in the Offseason thread here at the start of the league year. Some things have changed since then, we’ve had some key additions at LB and Safety and added some important depth pieces OT and DT. We brought back Braxton Jones at LT, which was a surprise, but made sense. So where does that leave us in terms of “Team Needs” heading into the Draft?
Team Needs
- Defensive Tackle - we added 3 veterans here, but none are really expected to be difference makers. We added Grady Jarrett last offseason and he’s was very underwhelming in his comeback from his knee injury. So we have a full room, but it’s looking like a sea of JAGs. This may signal that Poles isn’t planning a day 1 pick here, but I have it as our top need still.
- Edge - pretty similar situation with DT. We have Sweat, but lost our big FA addition Dayo to injury last year, and we hope he’s healthy and more productive in 2027. We have Booker ascending, but probably not ready to be a elite rusher. We haven’t added a lot of depth in FA, so I think there’s a signal that we are going to be drafting DEs over the weekend.
- Cornerback - we were truly awful in the secondary last season and we’ve rotated a lot of guys out. Jaylon and Kyler need to be healthy and return to Pro Bowl form, which is no sure thing, and Tyrique was in the doghouse last season. He’s currently projected to be the other starter. No one should be comfortable with this, so we need to add a CB on day one or day two. It’s not a great CB class, so let’s pray we’re not reaching when we do.
- Safety - we’re in a uglier situation here than at CB on paper, but I still have CB as a greater need due to positional scarcity and importance. We made one major FA addition, poaching Coby Bryant from the champs, but this room is nearly empty. So we may add 2 Safeties this weekend and probably will have some priority UDFAs in the building on Monday too.
- Left Tackle - things got weird down the stretch at LT. Last years second round pick looked like a long term answer at the position until a catastrophic knee injury. We moved Thuney to LT instead of playing any of our swing guys in the playoffs. There’s real questions if Ozzy will ever be back, let alone this year. We brought back Braxton Jones and brought in former 1st round pick Wilks to compete for the week 1 start. Protecting Caleb is the top priority, so drafting a LT is a strong possibility in round 1 in spite of the other options we have.
- IOL - Drew Dalman’s retirement is a huge monkey in the wrench here. We backfilled the Center position via trade but this is still a potential liability. Dalman might have been the single most important instrument in turning the offense around, so we need to not just be solid, we need to be great in the center. At OG Thuney is an older player and having some more depth inside is essential. Adding a LT could allow us to bump a guy inside, something to watch.
- LB - we’ve tried and failed to draft LBs in the middle rounds over the last few years. Edmunds is out, Devin Bush is in. Edwards is back but was hurt all last season, that 3rd spot is a bit of a black hole. We probably aren’t looking here on Day 1 or 2 unless there’s a huge value pick, but on Day 3 maybe we try again.
- WR - we shipped DJ Moore out and are expecting some combination of Odunze and Burden to fill that role. But, even if that works, we need to backfill the vacated WR2/WR3 role. We have Walker and Raymond in the building so we have options, but again, if a pass catcher becomes a value, we could surprise people by adding another weapon. I definitely think the organization wants to keep Caleb flush with weapons, so taking a WR on Day 2 could be a strong likelihood.
- QB/RB/TE - All these positions are probably pretty stable. We kept Bagent, so drafting a backup is unlikely. Swift, to the surprise of some, is coming back. You can never have enough ball carriers, so maybe we try to replicate that Monangai pick at the tail end, but UDFAs are probably the plan there. Kmet and Loveland are locked in for the immediate future, and we have some developmental guys in house, so taking a TE would be a shocker.
I’ll talk through some of my wish list guys a little later.