4 Mistakes the Bears Can't Afford to Make in the 2026 NFL Draft

With a pivotal season ahead of them, the Bears need to avoid these NFL draft pitfalls.

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The annual NFL draft is usually a glorified guessing game for the league's general managers, especially beyond the first few picks. They have to hope that their scouting departments did a good job of evaluating players, then trust that these players will live up to expectations. For the Chicago Bears, general manager Ryan Poles struggled to find impact starters early in his career, but that changed with the Bears' 2025 NFL draft class.

The Bears are going to need a similarily dominant draft class from Poles in 2026 if they want to advance further in the postseason than they did last year. They still have some major needs to fill, even after a relatively successful first wave of free agency, and landing players who can make an impact right away is crucial. To do that, the Bears will have to avoid these four mistakes in the 2026 NFL draft.

1. Whiffing on their first-round pick

It may sound overly simplistic, but it rings true nonetheless. Teams like the Kansas City Chiefs, the Philadelphia Eagles, or the Los Angeles Rams can afford to take risks with their first-round selections. They're pretty complete as teams, and all have recently won a Super Bowl title. Whiffing on their first-round selection isn't good, but they can afford that kind of setback.

The Bears are not there yet, not even after clinching the 2025 NFC North championship. Whoever they select with their first-round pick, he will have to be an immediate impact player who can help them get over the playoff hump. When they're on the clock, they ought to play it as safe as they can and take the prospect with the highest-floor.

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2. Trading too far up in the draft order

I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea of the Bears trading up in the first round of the draft, especially if a quality prospect begins to slip. But, to piggyback off of the first point, the Bears aren't in a position yet to take a big draft swing. They still have several roster needs to fill, especially after Drew Dalman's shocking retirement, and they only have seven total picks.

If the Bears want to advance beyond the Divisional round in 2026, they're going to likely need strong contributions from at least four of their rookies. That means they can't afford the cost in draft capital to make a big leap up the draft board.

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3. Not adding a defensive tackle within the first three rounds

I understand that general manager Ryan Poles is an adherent of the "best player available" draft strategy. In fact, he recently doubled down on the Bears' draft strategy, expressing his belief that taking the best player available regardless of position has served them well. He's not wrong, as his selection of Colston Loveland last year made a fool out of many draft analysts who didn't like that pick, including yours truly.

But Poles still needs to be flexible when it comes to roster construction. Taking the best player available within reason is fine, but if the Bears use their four picks in the first three rounds of the draft without landing a starting-caliber defensive tackle, the outlook for 2026 won't be too rosy.

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4. Betting on traits over production in early rounds

The Bears have two seventh-round picks, and at that point in the draft, it's wise to go with players who have unteachable traits, like rare athleticism. That's what I have the Bears doing in a recent 2026 NFL mock draft. But that doesn't often work in earlier rounds. Consider the 2022 NFL draft. The Jacksonville Jaguars had the first overall pick and were widely expected to pick one of two pass rushers: Travon Walker or Aidan Hutchinson. They went with Walker, who tested better than Hutchinson but had less production in college.

We all saw how that worked out. While it's true that he wasn't a bust, as the Jaguars signed Travon Walker to a massive extension last week, Hutchinson is clearly the better player and could have given Jacksonville an even more dominant defense. When the Bears are on the clock on draft night, they need to make sure that the prospect they select is a proven contributor

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