Ryan Poles failed to address Bears' biggest need during NFL Draft originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Chicago Bears and Ryan Poles had an interesting 2026 NFL Draft. They landed a steal in Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman in the first round, but followed it up with questionable picks down the board.
At the end of the day, the Bears' draft class wasn't a terrible one by any means, but there was one main issue with the class: Poles and company did not address their biggest need at edge rusher.
As ESPN's Courtney Cronin pointed out, the Bears are coming out of the NFL Draft with a big question regarding the team's pass rush. The Bears' defense still has a big issue at pass rusher, and the NFL Draft isn't around to give Chicago a chance for upgrades.
"The current pass rush needs work, and barring a trade that injects the D-line with impact talent, the Bears will rely on Dayo Odeyingbo, Austin Booker, and Shemar Turner to improve a unit that ranked 31st in pass rush win rate and 29th in pressure percentage last season," Cronin writes.
After taking Theineman in Round 1, the Bears took center Logan Jones in Round 2, tight end Sam Roush in Round 3, wide receiver Zavion Thomas in Round 3, cornerback Malik Muhammad in Round 4, and linebacker Keyshaun Elliot in Round 5.
Finally, the last pick of their 2026 NFL Draft class was a defensive lineman, as they added interior defensive lineman Jordan Van Den Berg in Round 6.
More: Dayo Odeyingbo named Bears most overpaid player for 2026
But there is still a big issue with the team's edge rusher position. Montez Sweat and the three pass rushers Cronin mentioned aren't nearly good enough to be a top-tier unit.
Chicago should've found a way to better address their edge need during the NFL Draft, especially with a few options like Romello Heigh and Jaishawn Barham being options down the board after their Roush and Thomas selections.
Coming into the NFL Draft, edge rusher was one of the Bears' top needs, and Poles failed to address it during the draft.
There's still time to add help for this position group in free agency or in a trade, but overall, it's a fairly disappointing outcome for Chicago's defense to come out of the draft without the help along the edge this defense so badly needs.
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