The 2 Bears Draft Picks Most Crucial to Chicago's 2026 season

Going into the 2026 NFL Draft, we always knew the Chicago Bears were unpredictable because of how strict general manager Ryan Poles is with his best player available strategy.

And Poles didn't disappoint, as despite there being expectations that Chicago would address two major needs, edge rusher and defensive line, Poles didn't take a player at the former position, and he didn't take a defensive lineman until Round 6.

Taking it a step further, Poles only drafted two players who figure to be crucial to a 2026 season in which the Bears have legitimate Super Bowl aspirations following an upstart 2025 campaign.

Dillon Thieneman

The Bears replaced both starting safeties from last season with the signing of Coby Bryant and the draft selection of Thieneman, and it's safe to say expectations are high for both.

The expectations for Bryant stem from his three-year, $40 million contract. Meanwhile, Thieneman saw a meteoric rise during the pre-draft process and some around the league even believed Thieneman was as good as Caleb Downs, who was widely believed to be one of the draft's best players.

Thieneman is hugely important to the Bears' season because he's going to take on a starting role right away and could wear multiple hats, including playing at slot cornerback if Kyler Gordon once again has injury issues.

The high expectations for Thieneman might not be fair for a first-year player, but that's simply what comes with the territory for a first-round pick, and especially a first-round pick in Chicago.

Malik Muhammad

Maybe you were expecting Logan Jones here, but we beg to differ (more on that shortly).

Muhammad will be vying for a starting role in training camp versus veteran Tyrique Stevenson, who was shown the bench last season after proving to be a liability in the secondary. It was a continuation of Stevenson's decline from his impressive rookie season.

In 2026, there is no Nahshon Wright around to save the day, as the upstart veteran cornerback has left town on a one-year, $5.5 million contract with the New York Jets.

That means the Bears are depending on Muhammad to provide a better option than Stevenson, who can't be trusted in a starting role until he shows he's better than what he put on tape in 2025.

The Bears finished with the 11th-worst pass defense in the NFL in 2026 and they can't hope to improve that without better health all around, and with a major weakness at CB2.

If Stevenson isn't the answer, the Bears desperately need Muhammad to be.

What about the rest of the draft class?

Chicago Bears wide receiver Zavlon Thomas (81) stretches during Rookie Minicamp at Halas Hall. — Chicago Bears wide receiver Zavlon Thomas. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

We didn't include Jones as being crucial to the Bears' season because of the presence of Garrett Bradbury, who offers an adequate stopgap for Chicago in 2026.

Maybe Jones ends up supplanting him at some point, but we don't think the gap between Year 1 Jones and Bradbury will be that big and Chicago should be fine with either one starting.

As for Sam Roush and Zavion Thomas, both are slated to be in depth roles, with Roush serving as TE3 behind Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet, and Thomas as WR4, at best, behind Rome Odunze, Luther Burden and Kalif Raymond.

When it comes to two of Chicago's three Day 3 picks, Keyshaun Elliott and Jordan van den Berg, the former won't be anything more than LB4 and the latter may not even make the team.

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