Chicago Bears Make a Head-Scratching Move in Joel Klatt's Latest Mock Draft

The Bears still have several weaknesses on the defensive side of the ball. However, they also have a newfound need (albeit a much less pressing one) for a receiver after trading DJ Moore to Buffalo ahead of free agency.

Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt thinks Chicago could go back to the well and target another pass-catcher if Arizona State receiver Jordyn Tyson is still on the board at pick 25.

Who was snubbed? pic.twitter.com/knQKGgLiUT
— The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football on FOX Pod (@JoelKlattShow) March 16, 2026

That would be a weird conundrum for me. Yes, Tyson would be an incredible value at pick 25. He's one of the most explosive receivers in this year's class and has an eerily similar playing style to Jameson Williams, whom the Lions traded up to select 12th overall when Johnson was their offensive coordinator in 2022.

Tyson at 25 would be such a good value that I would feel weird about hating the pick... but I think I'd really hate the pick.

The Bears need to inject some young talent into the defensive side of the ball. Desperately. I like the potential of adding another weapon to the passing game, but I think they can get by with adding said weapon in the fourth round.

They already invested a lot of premium draft capital into the receiver room. I truly don't even know if I would be able to justify adding the second coming of Randy Moss if it meant kicking the defensive can down the road to the second round.

total capital used to draft WRs since 2022 pic.twitter.com/0P1dt7QUJc
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 17, 2026

That list doesn't even account for the Bears using last year's 10th overall pick on tight end Colston Loveland, by the way.

I know the best player available formula indicates taking the best player off the top of the board regardless of position, and Ryan Poles renewed his vows to that philosophy at the combine. However, make no mistake, each team's board is unique to the positions they need.

You can point to the selections of Loveland and Luther Burden III last year as examples that the Ben Johnson-led Bears could buck the trend of conventional wisdom when it comes to drafting. However, those were not nearly the same situations. Johnson loves 12 personnel (two tight end sets). The Bears only had one TE he felt confident in at that point, Cole Kmet. As for the selection of Burden, imagine a world where Caleb Williams had been forced to rely on Olamide Zaccheaus in three-receiver sets last season? A nightmare scenario.

That nightmare scenario is why I think they'll probably draft a receiver at some point in this year's class (although I admittedly feel better about Jahdae Walker and Kalif Raymond than I did about Zaccheaus, who left in free agency). However, I definitely don't expect it to be in the first round. Not with copious weaknesses and semi-weaknesses on the defensive side of the ball.

I noticed safeties Dillon Thieneman and Emmanuel McNeill-Warren were both still on the board when the Bears selected Tyson in Klatt's mock draft. I will be utterly shocked if they pass up on two day one impact safeties (and flat out really good players) to get another flashy receiver if that were to come to fruition.