Ben Johnson's Fingerprints All Over Day 2 and That Was a Bad Thing for Bears

We may not ever know exactly how much sway Ben Johnson had over the Chicago Bears' picks on Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft, but it's certainly fair to assume he had a lot because it looks like his fingerprints are all over the team's second- and third-round selections.

Ahead of the draft, the Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs reported that the Bears head coach is "heavily involved" in the team's draft process and appears to have final say over picks.

"He has set the tone in that building. They're not going to pull the trigger on some draft pick of a player that he doesn't want. He's heavily involved," Biggs said to 104.3 The Score.

With the baffling direction the Bears went on Day 2 that saw them come away with not a single defensive player when the team's biggest needs were on that side of the ball, it's fair to think Johnson exercised his power.

The Bears desperately needed to add an edge rusher, defensive lineman and even a cornerback. Instead, the Bears didn't add to any of those positions and opted for much smaller needs.

The Bears added what we presume to be a third tight end (assuming the team isn't trading Cole Kmet, which the veteran said he doesn't expect to happen) in Sam Roush, an undersized center in Logan Jones, who may not even start because of Garrett Bradbury, and a wide receiver in Zavion Thomas, who some analysts had projected as a Day 3 selection.

The Bears did need more help at wide receiver, a center of the future and another tight end to fill out the depth chart and help Johnson run his beloved 13 personnel, but not more than any of the defensive positions we listed. In fact, the defensive needs far outweighed any of those positions.

Making matters worse, Roush, Jones and Thomas may not contribute much, if anything, in Year 1.

Now, the Bears enter Day 3 with a fourth-round pick, a fifth-round pick and two seventh-round selections, all of which are far less likely to be enough to immediately help their defensive needs.

There's still no new edge rusher to help a pass-rush that has a big question mark in Dayo Odeyingbo and finished with the seventh-fewest sacks and the second-worst pass-rush win rate in 2025.

And there's still no new defensive lineman to bolster a run defense that finished sixth-worst, and the Bears are still heavily dependent on Tyrique Stevenson, who was benched because of poor play in 2025.

Has Johnson earned the right to have a big say in who the Bears draft? Absolutely.

But he needed to exercise his right in a responsible matter and it's hard to say he did that on Friday night if he had as much sway as we think he did.

Add us as a preferred source on Google