Bears UDFA Who Drew Comparison to Aaron Donald Garnering Hype at Mandatory Minicamp

Chicago Bears undrafted free-agent signing Jayden Loving has been turning heads at mandatory minicamp this week.

Wake Forest defensive linemen Nuer Gatkuoth (7) and defensive lineman Jayden Loving (8). | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

As the Chicago Bears navigate mandatory minicamp this week, there is at least one undrafted free-agent signing who is turning heads: defensive lineman Jayden Loving.

Loving, who played his college ball a Bethune-Cookman, Western Kentucky and Wake Forest, was signed by the Bears after the 2026 NFL Draft and earned one of the biggest deals among UDFAs, which shows the Bears think highly of him.

Herb Howard of The Bigs kept a close eye on Loving during the team's minicamp practice on Wednesday and had a lot of good things to say about the rookie, who he believes could make the roster out of training camp.

"This D-tackle, Jayden Loving, an undrafted rookie out of Wake Forest, is built like a house," Howard wrote. "He’s kind of short, stout, but he is strong, looked like an immovable object."

"He's got some real good burst and athleticism to him as well," Howard added. "Gotta wait 'til the pads come on, but I’ve had my eye on him since the first time I saw him, just because of how he looks. He looks like he should be in the NFL. Kid might make the team, we'll see."

An Aaron Donald comparison

Former Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

When the Bears announced their UDFA signings, the first thing that jumped off the page at us about Loving was his athleticism.

According to Kent Lee Platte, Loving scored an elite 9.93 Relative Athletic Score out of 10 based on his measurables before the draft.

The 6-foot-1, 309-pound lineman was docked for his height and short arms but scored high marks in every other category measured and even drew a comparison to Aaron Donald.

"Short and with short arms isn't great, but having ~85th percentile or greater in every other test is pretty promising. Since it's catchy to do so these days, let's just throw out an Aaron Donald comp and see if it sticks," Platte wrote.

Loving isn't the only uber-athletic rookie defensive lineman the Bears added this offseason, as Chicago drafted Jordan van den Berg, who scored an even higher RAS than Loving (10.0).

Jayden Loving could offer what Bears need

Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Based on his college numbers, Loving could provide exactly what the Bears need along the defensive front, which is more pass-rush juice and better run defense.

Loving thrived in the latter area in college, with the rookie posting Pro Football Focus run defense grades of 81.6 and 83.9 over his final two years in college

The Wake Forest product wasn't an elite interior pass-rusher by any means, but he did show some promise there with 2.5 sacks and 20 total pressures in 2025.

If Loving can prove himself to be an asset in even one of those areas, he might be able to pull off a 53-man roster upset when cutdown day comes.