Bears Heavily Shore Up Their Defense in Analyst's Latest 7-Round Mock Draft

The 2026 NFL Draft is now less than a month away, and we've reached peak speculation season. It's the time of year when everyone has opinions on how the draft is going to shake out (and some people have 30 opinions on how it will go).

Few are more plugged in than Matt Miller, who is an ESPN draft analyst and insider. He dropped his latest seven-round mock draft this morning, and he clearly thinks the Bears will focus virtually all of their attention on the defensive side of the ball. He has them taking defenders with all but one of their seven selections.

ESPN has a full 7-round mock draft by @nfldraftscout. Here’s the Chicago Bears haul. Thoughts?

1-25 DT Peter Woods
2-57 S AJ Haulcey
2-60 CB Malik Muhammad
3-89 WR Skyler Bell
4-129 DE Mason Reiger
7-239 DT David Gusta
7-241 LB Jack Kelly
— Ben Devine (@Chicago_NFL) March 30, 2026

Honestly, I'd be pretty happy with the early-round haul. I've been beating the drum that they should address the defensive tackle and safety positions through the first two rounds for the past two months, and I remain on board with that logic if the board falls that way. It definitely did in this case, as Clemson's Peter Woods is still probably at the top of my wish list in round one.

I also very much like them addressing the secondary in round two. They need to find another starting safety opposite Coby Bryant. LSU's AJ Haulcy has gotten overshadowed by the top three safeties in the class, but a player of his caliber would usually get projected to go much higher. He'd probably be the first or second safety off the board and gone by early in the second round if not for the high-end talent of Caleb Downs, Dillon Thieneman, and Emmanuel McNeill-Warren.

Cornerback is a sneaky position that I could very much see them prioritizing early. Texas cover man Malik Muhammad would be another solid selection at pick 60. He would be a better fit for what Dennis Allen wants to do (a lot of man coverage) than Tyrique Stevenson.

The third round is where I start to have some questions about the mock. I wouldn't be upset with the third-round selection of UCONN receiver Skyler Bell. He'd be a great value at that point in the draft and would be a great replacement for DJ Moore. My main grievance with that pick is that they hadn't yet drafted an edge rusher, and Derrick Moore (another great value) was still on the board. He went two picks later to the Bills. Penn State pass-rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton was also still available, and he went early in the fourth round in the mock.

They wound up drafting an edge rusher with the fourth-round selection of Wisconsin's Mason Reiger (who is actually from Hoffman Estates), but I'd be a bit disappointed with the edge rushers they missed out on between the third and fourth rounds if this came to fruition.

My biggest grievance through the first four rounds of the mock would definitely be that they didn't cash in on the stacked mid-round center class. I think there are going to be a few solid centers drafted in the middle rounds this year, and the Bears wouldn't be on the board again until the seventh.

The Bears have been doing a lot of homework on the centers in the class, and I'd honestly be surprised if they don't draft one with one of their picks between the second and fourth rounds. Logan Jones, who went at pick 127 in the mock, would've been a viable option at pick 89. Jake Slaughter would've been a downright steal at pick 129 (that pick would've honestly saved the entire draft for me).

I also don't really expect them to double down on defensive tackles after they added three this offseason. I know they might still be open to improving the position, and one of Kentavius Street or James Lynch could easily get cut with virtually no dead cap hit, but so could the seventh-round selection of Kentucky DT David Gusta. Indiana C Pat Coogan, who went 13 picks later, would've been a more ideal pick to fill the developmental center role at that point.