My way to early 2026 mock draft

[ASHKUM BEAR]

My way to early 2026 mock draft.  More about looking at the roster and composing needs.  Ben gets his RB, then DA takes over. Later rd picks G, S#2, K. 

1-24 Jeremiah Love RB ND 6-0 205

2-48 Braylon Shelby DE S Car 6-5 265

3-86 Dillon Thieneman S Pur 6-0 207

4-118 Demonte Capehart DT Clem 6-5 315

[ASHKUM BEAR]

On 4/28/2025 at 11:40 PM, ASHKUM BEAR said:

My way to early 2026 mock draft.  More about looking at the roster and composing needs.  Ben gets his RB, then DA takes over. Later rd picks G, S#2, K. 

1-24 Jeremiah Love RB ND 6-0 205

2-48 Braylon Shelby DE S Car 6-5 265

3-86 Dillon Thieneman S Pur 6-0 207

4-118 Demonte Capehart DT Clem 6-5 315

2026 scouting season starts tomorrow. 

Though the Bears scouts officially started 2 weeks ago attending camps.

Any thoughts on what this team might need after preseason ended? 

Poles attending next weekend...Texas vs Ohio St, LSU vs Clemson and Notre Dame vs Miami.  I have a ND and Clem players in my first few selections 

Team needs after last game: LT, RB, DT, DE, S, CB

 

[Stinger226]

Needs could change as the season goes forward. Definitely S, DE but not sure RB would be first round.

 

[ASHKUM BEAR]

1 minute ago, Stinger226 said:

Needs could change as the season goes forward. Definitely S, DE but not sure RB would be first round.

 

If there is any chance Love from Notre Dame is around, the Bears will continue making their Love offense.   He has all the tools, plus I am a Golden Domer Homer.   I wouldn't pass on a DT either if a DE is not available. 

[Stinger226]

2 hours ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

If there is any chance Love from Notre Dame is around, the Bears will continue making their Love offense.   He has all the tools, plus I am a Golden Domer Homer.   I wouldn't pass on a DT either if a DE is not available. 

I agree but if he balls out, probably wont make it past the first 15 picks.

[adam]

On 4/28/2025 at 11:40 PM, ASHKUM BEAR said:

My way to early 2026 mock draft.  More about looking at the roster and composing needs.  Ben gets his RB, then DA takes over. Later rd picks G, S#2, K. 

1-24 Jeremiah Love RB ND 6-0 205

2-48 Braylon Shelby DE S Car 6-5 265

3-86 Dillon Thieneman S Pur 6-0 207

4-118 Demonte Capehart DT Clem 6-5 315

I doubt Love makes it to 24. I am thinking he ends up top 15, maybe even top 12.

From the way Poles has drafted, you really can only expect a starter out of the 1st 2 rounds. He has been terrible in the 3rd (Velus, Pickens, etc). So I agree that RB, Edge are the top 2 needs to fill. I think they can get Safety help via free agency if they move on from Brisker.

[Mongo3451]

Any mock draft that doesn't include a stud LT and/or EDGE with the top picks, doesn't resonate with me.

[BearFan PHX]

5 hours ago, Mongo3451 said:

Any mock draft that doesn't include a stud LT and/or EDGE with the top picks, doesn't resonate with me.

Amen Amen Amen - ive been saying since before (and right after) the draft that we needed LT and Edge

The three most important positions on the football field are:

1) QB

2) Edge rusher (tackles the QB)

3) LT (blocks the edge rusher so he cant tackle the QB)

This is the holy trinity of any football team.

You can add coach to the list.

As optimistically as possible, you can say we have the coach and QB set. halfway there.

[Stinger226]

16 hours ago, Mongo3451 said:

Any mock draft that doesn't include a stud LT and/or EDGE with the top picks, doesn't resonate with me.

Definitely a LT if Trapilo stays as a RT or swing T. 

[BearFan PHX]

1 hour ago, Stinger226 said:

Definitely a LT if Trapilo stays as a RT or swing T. 

you seriously dont think we need an edge player?

[Stinger226]

5 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

you seriously dont think we need an edge player?

I said that in my previous post, I added the LT after you mentioned it.

[BearFan PHX]

1 hour ago, Stinger226 said:

I said that in my previous post, I added the LT after you mentioned it.

I see that now, thank you

So we still need the two things that I (and most of us) said were the most important things, LT and Edge. So what I said about the draft isnt looking so out there anymore. Its nice we have Loveland and Burden, they both look great, but we could have had Mykell Williams and Aireontae Ersery instead. 

The cute idea of dropping down for Trapilo and thinking he'd become your starting LT is clearly not working out here in reality. I like the player, I like his skills, I like his attitude, but he wasnt able to crack the job at LT. Maybe he will at the bye?

[Stinger226]

9 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

I see that now, thank you

So we still need the two things that I (and most of us) said were the most important things, LT and Edge. So what I said about the draft isnt looking so out there anymore. Its nice we have Loveland and Burden, they both look great, but we could have had Mykell Williams and Aireontae Ersery instead. 

The cute idea of dropping down for Trapilo and thinking he'd become your starting LT is clearly not working out here in reality. I like the player, I like his skills, I like his attitude, but he wasnt able to crack the job at LT. Maybe he will at the bye?

I think he has the potential to be the LT, but I think the coaches think he just isnt comfortable there yet. As bear fans, we always see the OL have injuries and need more that 5 starters to last a season. The season will dictate what positions will need to get the most attention in next years draft. With all the losing over the years its hard to trust the management to get it right but I do sincerely think BJ will change everything going forward. You had the right positions that need attention but players get better and maybe they will get better with the roster we have.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

14 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

I see that now, thank you

So we still need the two things that I (and most of us) said were the most important things, LT and Edge. So what I said about the draft isnt looking so out there anymore. Its nice we have Loveland and Burden, they both look great, but we could have had Mykell Williams and Aireontae Ersery instead. 

The cute idea of dropping down for Trapilo and thinking he'd become your starting LT is clearly not working out here in reality. I like the player, I like his skills, I like his attitude, but he wasnt able to crack the job at LT. Maybe he will at the bye?

Air Ersery is now the starting LT for Hou after Cam Robinson was injured.  Will Anderson says he will be great. 

Looks like 2 LT targets are blooming (Simmons and Ersery)

[Stinger226]

14 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Air Ersery is now the starting LT for Hou after Cam Robinson was injured.  Will Anderson says he will be great. 

Looks like 2 LT targets are blooming (Simmons and Ersery)

As much as all that sounds good, I will wait to see  a full year to sort of grade them. I also heard Banks looked good but is all of that just preseason hype to s a certain extent? Simmons was the 32nd pick and Ersery was pick 48. Lots of people praise rookies because they usually are compared to who they drafted to replace.

The season starts in two weeks, so now the real snaps count so we get real looks at every rookie.