Bear Digest

South Side Hit Man Among Bears' Draft Options as Center Replacement

The list of best centers available in the draft as a Drew Dalman replacement or for depth includes a genuine South Sider who won the national title.
Gene Chamberlain|
Indiana's Pat Coogan (78) celebrates his team's national title with Riley Nowakowski (37), Charlie Becker (80) and Aiden Fisher (4).
Indiana's Pat Coogan (78) celebrates his team's national title with Riley Nowakowski (37), Charlie Becker (80) and Aiden Fisher (4). | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

No one could have expected the Bears to be where they are earlier this offseason, shopping for centers.

The quickest route to having one capable of playing effectively in  their line would appear to be free agency, although it's not an abundant supply of highly graded players. They're reportedly considering Tyler Biadasz for the job of replacing Pro Bowl center Drew Dalman, whose retirement announcement is as puzzling as it is shocking.

Perhaps it's the end of Dalman's career. His father, Chris, played only seven NFL seasons and was a starter for four before retiring in 1999.

Maybe he'll wind up like Frank Ragnow in Detroit, and realize during the season he didn't really need to retire yet. Or maybe he'll sit out a year in retirement, then make a comeback by signing with the 49ers, the team his dad played for in his seven-year career.

Who knows? Dalman wasn't injured last year, although he had been hurt in Atlanta in 2024 and missed seven games with an ankle injury and two more with an abdominal injury. None of that sounds like a career-threatening situation, and he played all 19 games last year.

Regardless, the Bears need to replace him and if they decide to go the  developmental route as they did in 2025 with so many rookies playing, they could turn to the draft. Guard Luke Newman converting from guard to center might make more sense, since he knows the offense and has been working some at the position.

In the draft this year, a small number of players could be ready to step in and play in the NFL.

If they want to go local, there's a Chicago area native in this draft who played for Notre Dame. Indiana starting center Pat Coogan is from the south suburbs and played at Marist before he went to Notre Dame. Coogan is a Chicago guy through and through.

"Yeah, take a lot of pride in where I'm from. Great community," Coogan said. "My family is still there. We have a family restaurant in right along Harlem Avenue.

"Free shout out to them: Franklin's Public House, 124th and Harlem. It's really a great community. And, yeah, being, you know, 45 minutes south of downtown Chicago was always fun, you know, going up, you know, whatever, maybe visiting the city. It's really great, I think, for me, a town to be a part of."

His experience with the Irish before going to play for the national champions downstate in the transfer portal last year could make him a viable NFL candidate.

"At Notre Dame, you know, being able to meet and work with like (Colts lineman) Quenton Nelson and Zach Martin, learned a lot of things from those guys; just how to handle yourself, the physicality of the game, how to prepare," Coogan said. "And really just, you know, love watching young guys like Tanner Bordolini going in the league and have success. Aaron Brewer is a guy who's incredibly athletic and flies around.

"So I try and take bits and pieces from everybody to be the complete player that I want to be."

Coogan appreciated the Indiana football journey from nobody to national champs and played his role to perfection with no sacks allowed or quarterback hits, according to Pro Football Focus. PFF's Ben Cooper labeled him a "sleeper to watch." 

"A lot of people poured their heart and souls into the program, and we've really gotten nothing in return for a long while, you know, results-wise," Coogan said. "So to see that was really special."

Coogan is 6-foot-5, 311 pounds and is rated on NFL Mock Draft Data Base as a fourth-rounder and by Pro Football Focus as a fifth-rounder—definitely someone the Bears could take later while they look at players.

Even if they signed Biadasz, picking someone like Coogan later in the draft wouldn't be a bad idea for depth because they've been caught by surprise with this move by Dalman and really have no one in the backup role since Ryan Bates is a free agent.

Here are other highly rated players for this draft they can consider.

Sam Hecht, Kansas State

A 6-4, 300-pounder regarded as a late second-rounder to early third-rounder and possibly the best center in the draft. PFF has him 68th on the big board but Mel Kiper differs greatly and has him only as the sixth-best center on his board. He started three seasons for Kansas State. He was playing at only 291 pounds but added weight since college.

Connor Lew, Auburn

Graded 77th on the Pro Football Focus big board, Lew is Kiper's No. 1 center in this draft despite coming off an ACL tear. He is 6-3, 303 and less experienced with only three years and 30 games of experience. NFL.com's Lance Zierlein grades Lew as an average NFL starter and lauds his quickness and hand strength, while making him the fourth-best center in this draft.

Jake Slaughter, Florida

Graded just behind Lew by PFF as a possible third-rounder (80th overall), Slaughter is 6-5, 303 and played 51 games over five years. Zierlein and NFL.com are much higher on his ability after he was given the highest overall score of all the centers at the combine. He showed he can get up out of his stance after the snap and run by turning in a 5.1-second 40-yard dash and 1.74-second 10-yard split. He also had a 32 1/2-inch vertical leap.

Jager Burton, Kentucky

A 6-4, 323-pounder, he was the second-best center at the combine for athletic score but NFL.com had him ranked 10th at his position. He is 127th on PFF's big board, which puts him in the late fourth round. Zierlein says he can easily flex out to guard because of his size.

Logan Jones, Iowa

Graded a fifth- or sixth-rounder on most big boards, he's still rated fourth best at his position by Kiper. At 6-3, 302, he was rated the second best center at the combine by Zierlein because he had the best combine athletic score for centers. He did practically every workout, which didn't hurt. A 4.9-second 40-yard dash was extremely impressive and he had a 1.75-second 10-yard split. His vertical was 32 inches and h had a 9-foot-2 broad jump.

Matt Gulbin, Michigan State

He played almost entirely at guard for four seasons at Wake Forest, but then played center for one year and was a real surprise as Pro Football Focus' highest graded center in FBS last season. Kiper had him fifth for the draft on his chart at the position.

Brian Parker II, Duke

No. 5 among centers on Kiper's big board, he had the third-best center score at the combine per NFL.com's Zierlein. At 6-5, 309 and with hands 10 inchs and arms 32-7/8 inches, he's a good enough athlete to be at guard or center. He did 29 reps at 225 pounds in the bench press and ran a 5.14-second 40.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.