Bear Digest

Why Bears Can't Be Counted on to Draft Proper Defensive Tackles

Analysis: Signing a free agent might be the best route at defensive tackle for the Bears even in this age of collaboration between GM Ryan Poles and coach Ben Johnson.
Gene Chamberlain|
Gevon Dexter is easily the most successful defensive tackle drafted or signed by Ryan Poles, but they need more.
Gevon Dexter is easily the most successful defensive tackle drafted or signed by Ryan Poles, but they need more. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

In 2004, Lovie Smith had just taken over as Bears head coach and brought in the Tampa 2 defensive style.

He needed a tackle for the 3-technique role, the attacking defender who lines up off the guard's outside shoulder and shoots the gap is vital for disruption in his scheme and also sets up the weakside linebacker for making plays. GM Jerry Angelo drafted Tommy Harris in Round 1. Harris only lasted seven Bears seasons due to injury, was vital to making Super Bowl XLI, but a severe hamstring injury altered his career and prevented him from even playing in the loss to the title game loss to the Colts.

Since the immortal Williams "The Refrigerator" Perry in 1985, Harris is the only defensive tackle the Bears drafted in the first round.

Only the Raiders, Colts and Bengals have gone longer at ignoring this vital position in the first round of drafts.

Simply for the sake of history itself, the Bears owe it to themselves to find a defensive tackle in the draft's first round. They are, after all, a franchise often associated with great defense. How can a team ignore the position so important that early in the draft so often?

Past Bears DT failure

One first-round defensive tackle in 40 drafts doesn't do it unless you're hitting on second-round picks, and the only ones they've taken since Harris in that round are Gervon Dexter, Tank Johnson, Eddie Goldman, Ego Ferguson, Will Sutton, and Shemar Turner. They're not sure whether Turner is an end or tackle, and Dexter is fine or even good as long as he's rushing the rusher.

Dexter has been a liability as a run defender and that's the first and most important role for a DT. His Pro Football Focus defensive tackle rank as a run defender in 2025 was 107th of 134. He was at 119 of 131 as a rookie in 2023. Last year was a major regression from 39th out of 132 in 2024.

When your defense ranks 29th in yards allowed per run and 27th overall against the run, the position closest to the ball on defense might be a good place to start fixing a real problem.

For this reason, people like ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. and Pro Football Focus'  Trevor Sikkema seem a little bit more on the ball than many mock drafters when it comes to fitting Bears needs to the first round pick at No. 25. Those two had a DT going to the Bears—different players but a tackle nonetheless.

Kiper says Ohio State's Kayden McDonald and Sikkema says Texas Tech's Lee Hunter. The Bears’ choice on 32% of internet mock drafts  NFL Mock Draft Database tracks is another DT, Caleb Banks from Florida.

Yet there seems to be mock draft resistance to tackle in favor of an edge in some places, and Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network even has them doing something they haven't done since 1990. That's take a safety in Round 1.

Fortunately for the Bears, analysts see an abundance of defensive tackles and also ends worth taking early in this draft. Unless you like taking lesser players for key defensive line roles, though, you wouldn't take a safety or linebacker in Round 1.      

Free agency anyone?

It's probably smartest for the Bears to pursue a defensive tackle in free agency, like Houston's Sheldon Rankins, Denver's John Franklin-Myers, Detroit's DJ Reader, Buffalo's DaQuan Jones or Tennessee's Sebastian Joseph-Day.

There is little proof GM Ryan Poles can find defensive help beyond defensive backs and signing a DT would let them cover the position in case of another draft dud.

Aside from Austin Booker, who has made a recent surge, Poles' defensive line picks are Dexter, Turner, Dominique Robinson, Zacch Pickens and Travis Bell. His linebackers were Ruben Hyppolite and Noah Sewell. It doesn't inspire confidence he can pick players for the front seven.

Last year the Bears enjoyed tremendous draft success with four players who made immediate impacts as starters or key rotational players. All were on offense, not coincidentally.

Collaboration?

Poles didn't enjoy this type of success in the past and the key had to be collaboration with coach Ben Johnson.

However, Johnson is an offensive side genius. No one ever said he can advise on defensive matters and the Bears obviously need defensive help.

Whether defensive coordinator Dennis Allen steps forth to provide vital assessments on draft picks could determine success at finding the elusive impact defensive tackle.

In Allen's time with his scheme installed at New Orleans, the Saints from 2016-24 burned through Rankins, Nick Fairley, John Jenkins, Tyeler Davison, David Onyemata, Malcom Brown, Shy Tuttle, Malcolm Roach, Montravius Adams, Albert Huggins, James Hurst, Khalen Saunders, Nathan Shepherd and finally Bryan Bresee as starters at defensive tackle.

The odds and history say they better hope Gervon Dexter has a tremendous breakthrough stopping the run in 2026 and that they somehow squeeze one good year out of defensive tackle Grady Jarrett.

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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.