Best and Worst Chicago Bears First-Round Pick From Recent 2026 NFL Mock Drafts

A look at one bad pick and one good pick for the Chicago Bears from recent mock drafts by experts.

A general view as the Chicago Bears at the NFL Draft. | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

Chicago Bears fans have been combing through mock drafts for months now, going over all of the 2026 NFL Draft possibilities for their team, especially as it pertains to the Bears' first-round pick, which falls at No. 25 overall.

We've seen the Bears stick and pick and take many of the same names over and over again. We've also seen scenarios where the Bears trade up or down.

Throughout it all, we here are Bears On SI have brought you many of these mocks, and we've even brought you some of our own, like this three-rounder we put out on Monday.

This time around, we're going around the landscape of recent mock drafts from outside experts and bringing you the best and worst first-round pick we've seen for the Bears.

Best: EDGE Keldric Faulk, Auburn

Auburn Tigers defensive end Keldric Faulk. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

From Mike Renner of CBS Sports: "Faulk fits perfectly with the Bears' long and physical edge room. He can be an early-down edge-setter, allowing emerging talent Austin Booker to focus on pass-rushing downs."

This is fantastic pick for a few reasons. The first is, quite simply, the Bears need more sack production after tallying 35 in 2025, which was tied for the seventh-fewest in the NFL.

The Bears have a need at EDGE opposite Montez Sweat, as the team is set to rely on Dayo Odeyingbo, who was bad last year before suffering a torn Achilles, and Austin Booker, who is a rotational player rather than a starter.

Faulk's sack production in 2025 wasn't great, but he did show up much better in 2024, when he posted a career-best seven sacks. We fully believe he'll be more consistent in that department with more development at the next level.

The Auburn product offers versatility with his ability to play in any front, and he's already an established run defender after posting a Pro Football Focus grade of 85.5 last season, ranking 20th in the country among edge rushers. Lest we forget, the Bears need to improve their putrid run defense (sixth-worst in 2025), so Faulk can help that area, also, and right away.

Worst: WR KC Concepcion, Texas A&M

Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver KC Concepcion. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

From Lou Scataglia of NFL Spin Zone: "KC Concepcion is an immediate threat in the NFL. He's an insanely agile player who excels at separating with his suddeness and quickness. With the Bears having traded DJ Moore to the Chicago Bears, there could be an open spot in the wide receiver room for an addition. Concepcion could join a couple of other young players in Luther Burden and Rome Odunze as long-term fixtures and pass-catchers for Williams."

We get why this pick was made by Scataglia, but the Bears shouldn't do it and it has nothing to do with the player.

The Bears do have a fair amount of uncertainty in their receivers room. DJ Moore is gone, Rome Odunze hasn't cemented himself as a No. 1 wide receiver yet after an injury-plagued season and Luther Burden isn't proven. Chicago's depth isn't great, either, because Kalif Raymond and the unproven Jahdae Walker are occupying the WR3 and WR4 spots right now and there is very little behind them.

But the Bears have utilized significant draft resources on pass-catchers the last two years. Odunze and Colston Loveland are both first-round picks, and Burden was a second-rounder.

Chicago needs to focus its earliest pick or picks on the defense now, where the team has massive needs at edge rusher and interior defensive line. We would also put cornerback and left tackle ahead of wide receiver.

Now, it must be said we can never rule out any pick in any spot for general manager Ryan Poles, as we know he deploys the best player available strategy.

But if his best player available in this spot isn't someone who can address a bigger need and it's between taking a wide receiver and trading back to acquire another pick, Poles should do the latter.