2026 NFL Draft: 5 First-Round Scenarios Chicago Bears Fans Need

The 2026 NFL Draft kicks off April 23 in Pittsburgh, and the Chicago Bears will attack it with a completely different posture than they have in years.

The Bears are coming off their first NFC North title since 2018, and a Wild Card win over Green Bay. With Caleb Williams and a loaded skill group, this front office is not rebuilding. Instead, Ryan Poles is upgrading.

The Bears hold the 25th overall pick in the first round, along with two second-round picks (Nos. 57 and 60, the latter acquired from the Buffalo Bills in the DJ Moore trade) and a third-rounder at No. 89. That is four picks in the top 100, and it gives Poles real options in April.

The needs are clear. Chicago posted the NFL's second-worst pass rush win rate in 2025, tied for 22nd in total sacks with just 35, allowed 5.0 yards per carry, which ranked 29th in the league, and lost both starting safeties, Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard, to free agency this offseason.

The defense must get better in the trenches and the secondary. These five first-round scenarios would do exactly that, and each one would have Bears fans completely losing their minds in Pittsburgh.

Zion Young Solves Chicago Bears' Pass Rush Problem at No. 25

Chicago hasn't used a top-50 pick on an edge rusher since Leonard Floyd went ninth overall in 2016. That is a decade of kicking the can down the road at one of the most important positions in football.

Montez Sweat had 10 sacks in 2025 and was largely a one-man band. The Bears added Dayo Odeyingbo in free agency to be that second edge threat, and he managed one sack in eight games before a torn Achilles ended his season in November.

Third-year player Austin Booker has upside but is still unproven as a consistent starter.

Zion Young is the answer the board could deliver at No. 25.

The Missouri product, who transferred from Michigan State after two seasons in East Lansing, broke out in 2025 with 6.5 sacks, 16.5 tackles for loss, 46 pressures, and two forced fumbles in 13 games, setting career highs across every major category.

He has a great frame at 6-foot-6 and 262 pounds, sports 33-inch arms, and he plays with the kind of relentless motor that defensive coordinators put at the top of their wish lists.

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Dennis Allen coached Cameron Jordan in New Orleans. He knows exactly what a long, powerful edge rusher looks like in his scheme, and Young checks every physical box Allen has historically prioritized.

"Long, well-built edge rusher with the size, strength, and temperament engineered for trench battles at the next level," wrote NFL.com's Lance Zierlein in his draft profile of Young. "Young is a fiery alpha who brings immense energy to the field and locker room. He majors in block destruction using base power and aggression to play through opponents."

Pairing Young opposite Sweat for the next four or five years is not a patch job. It is a plan. And if the board falls this way, Bears fans in Pittsburgh will be standing and cheering before Goodell finishes saying the name.

Akheem Mesidor Slides and Poles Takes the Best Pass Rusher on the Board

The age question follows Akheem Mesidor everywhere he goes this draft cycle. He will be 25 years old when he lines up for his first NFL snap. Some teams have already crossed him off their boards entirely because of it.

But for a Bears team that doesn't need Mesidor to be a ten-year franchise cornerstone, just a dominant edge rusher for the next five to six seasons at a first-round price, the age concern is far less disqualifying than the coverage suggests.

Posting 12.5 sacks, 17.5 tackles for loss, 63 total tackles, and four forced fumbles, Mesidor earned First-Team All-ACC honors. That production made him a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award and earned Second-Team All-America honors from The Sporting News.

His season ended on the national stage with two sacks in Miami’s 27-21 loss to Indiana in the National Championship game.

"Mesidor is an instinctive, high-effort edge rusher with a fluid rush style and a deep toolbox," wrote Zierlein. "A true technician. Wins every way: speed-to-power, bull rush, push-pull, crossing face, hand swipe, dip-and-rip."

This is not about rebuilding the edge for the next decade. It is about winning in 2026, 2027, and 2028 with a Caleb Williams-led offense. Mesidor and Sweat on the same defensive front would give Chicago something it has not had since the Khalil Mack era. They'd have two genuinely dangerous, every-down edge rushers that opposing offenses have to account for on every single snap.

If Mesidor is sitting there at No. 25, this is the pick.

Emmanuel McNeil-Warren Drops to 25 and Chicago Replaces Brisker With an Upgrade

Both Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard are gone. The Bears signed Coby Bryant to a $40 million deal as their safety anchor, but Bryant profiles as a rangy free safety who protects the back end of the defense.

Who takes on that downhill role next to him and enforces the middle of the field? The Bears still need someone who can force fumbles and punish tight ends over the middle the way Brisker did at his best.

That question has no current answer on the Bears roster, and Emmanuel McNeil-Warren from Toledo is the prospect who answers it most completely.

MORE: Bears Target Emmanuel McNeil-Warren to Fix Secondary in New Mock Draft

In four seasons at Toledo, McNeil-Warren accumulated 214 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 13 pass breakups, nine forced fumbles, five interceptions, and a defensive touchdown. He ended his final college season in 2025 with 77 tackles and two interceptions. He's 6-foot-3 and 201 pounds, and he plays the position with the physicality of a linebacker and the range of a true safety.

The scenario Bears fans need: Caleb Downs goes in the top 10 to Cincinnati, Dillon Thieneman lands in Minnesota around pick 18, and McNeil-Warren is still sitting at No. 25 when Chicago goes on the clock. If so, Poles turns the card in without hesitation. The Bears get a potential cornerstone next to Bryant, and Dennis Allen's secondary suddenly looks very different heading into 2026.

Monroe Freeling Drops to 25 and Caleb Williams Gets His Left Tackle

This scenario requires a slight shift in priorities away from defense, but the football case for it is compelling.

Ozzy Trapilo, the Bears' second-round pick in 2025 and their presumed long-term answer at left tackle, is expected to miss most of the 2026 season recovering from injury. The Bears signed Jedrick Wills to a one-year bridge deal and retained Braxton Jones, but neither is a genuine long-term solution protecting the blindside of a franchise quarterback in his prime.

Monroe Freeling from Georgia is the highest-upside offensive tackle in this draft class. His Combine performance in Indianapolis in February was genuinely historic. At 315 pounds, Freeling ran a 4.93 in the 40-yard dash and earned a Relative Athletic Score of 99.99 out of 100. It's a nearly perfect athleticism profile for any offensive lineman in the history of the pre-draft process.

"With only one season as a full-time starter, filling out his frame and improving his technique should be early priorities. His quickness brings first-phase positioning advantages, but he needs more play strength to carry that over to block sustain and finish," Zierlein wrote. "Lunging and deadening feet post-punch must be coached out of his muscle memory in pass protection so his athleticism and length can do their jobs. Independent hand usage and a reliable “snatch and trap” could instantly bolster his success rate. There is some buyer beware on tape, but if smoothed out, he has the ceiling of a quality NFL starter."

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Yes, Freeling has only 16 career starts and a raw, developing technique. That is not zero risk. But he's 21 years old with a 99.99 RAS and the physical tools to become one of the best left tackles in the NFL. This is exactly the kind of bet that teams willing to compete for Super Bowls make.

The pick says: we are protecting our quarterback for the next decade. Bears fans would accept that tradeoff immediately.

Poles Trades Up With Dallas to No. 20 and Locks Up McNeil-Warren Before Minnesota Strikes

The arithmetic behind the trade makes sense. The most realistic scenario in which Chicago risks losing McNeil-Warren: Minnesota, picking at No. 18, takes him before the Bears go on the clock.

The Cowboys at No. 20 are a logical trade partner, particularly if Dallas has a different target in mind and would welcome sliding back into the late first round with extra capital. Compensation for a five-spot move late in the first round would realistically involve one of Chicago's second-round picks (Nos. 57 or 60) going to Dallas along with the No. 25 pick.

The Bears have not made an aggressive trade-up move in the first round under Ryan Poles. They have been patient, strategic accumulators of draft capital for two years. A move like this changes the perception of where this organization is in its competitive cycle. It tells the rest of the NFC North, and the rest of the league, that the rebuild is finished and the Bears are trying to win right now.

The Bears' Bottom Line

The beauty of the Chicago Bears' situation heading into the 2026 NFL Draft. There is no single correct answer at No. 25. All five of these scenarios represent legitimate, defensible outcomes that would improve this roster in a meaningful way.

Ryan Poles can draft an edge rusher whom many experts have strongly advocated for throughout the pre-draft process this year. He could select the safest defensive tackle available or take the top remaining safety in McNeil-Warren to strengthen Chicago’s defense.

Another option is protecting Caleb Williams long-term by drafting Monroe Freeling as a foundational offensive tackle.

Poles could also get aggressive on the phone with Dallas and attempt a strategic trade up the draft board.

The key difference now is that the Chicago Bears are no longer drafting out of desperation.

Chicago has four picks in the top 100. They have real foundational talent already in place. Not to mention a head coach, Ben Johnson, who is ready to compete for a Super Bowl.

Every one of these scenarios gets the Bears closer to where they are trying to go.