Bears General Manager Ryan Poles and Head Coach Ben Johnson hit a home run with last year’s draft class offensively, and this year, they’ll need to have similar success picking players on the opposite side of the ball if this team wants to take a leap and become a true Super Bowl favorite.
Now that we’ve gotten through the first wave of free agency, eyes around the Bears and the NFL are fully set on the NFL Draft, which is just over five weeks from today. As we get closer to Draft Day, the mock drafts from experts will be popping up more frequently, and today we were treated to the latest mock from Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN.
After having Ohio State defensive tackle Kayden McDonald go to the Bears in his past two mocks, Kiper projects a different defensive player to go to the Bears at 25th overall: Missouri edge defender Zion Young. This is what Mel Kiper Jr. had to say about the pick:
The Bears had 35 sacks (tied for 22nd) and a lowly 28.0% pressure rate (29th) last season. Montez Sweat had 10 of those sacks, but there wasn’t much beyond him. Dayo Odeyingbo was signed last offseason to be the second guy off the edge, but he managed one sack over eight games before an Achilles injury ended his season. Despite struggling to find consistent quarterback pressure for a few years now, Chicago hasn’t used a top-50 pick on an edge rusher since Leonard Floyd went ninth in 2016.
Let’s change that. Young had 6.5 sacks and 46 pressures last season, playing with power and a full-go motor. He’d bring some intensity to the Bears’ front.
While Zion Young is not a defensive tackle like McDonald, drafting the Mizzou product would still provide the Bears a much-needed boost on their defensive line.
© Travis Register-Imagn ImagesBears Build On Defense In Mel Kiper Jr’s Latest Mock Draft
A previous version of Kiper’s mock draft came out about three weeks ago and had the Bears beefing up their defensive line with Ohio State defensive tackle Kayden McDonald. However, now that the first wave of free agency has come and gone and some time has passed, the long-time draft analyst has Bears General Manager Ryan Poles writing down a new name on the card for the 25th overall selection — Mizzou’s Zion Young. So, let’s talk about that analysis a little bit. Because part of me agrees, but part of me thinks there’s a bit of an oversight.
There is no doubt that Chicago’s defense still needs to add on the edge. Everything Kiper said in making the mock draft pick is indeed true. But he failed to acknowledge Austin Booker’s successful finish in 2025. Booker had 3.5 sacks in the final four regular-season games and one sack in the Bears’ two postseason games. He also had 14 hurries in his final six games played. While that’s certainly still a small sample size, and he did spend a good chunk of last season hurt, I certainly think Booker’s strong finish to last season should and will be taken into consideration when making this pick.
The Bears need to add some depth to their group of edge rushers. And while the front office made depth additions to the interior of their defensive line, that position group still feels like a bigger need. So does safety, which is another position in which Chicago has added offseason depth. Granted, the Mel Kiper mock has the two top safeties on the board — Oregon’s Dillon Thienemann and Toledo’s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren — being taken before the Bears go on the clock. Hence, Kiper has Chicago taking Zion Young with its first-round selection
More on Young via his NFL Draft profile writeup by Lance Zierlein:
Long, well-built edge rusher with the size, strength and temperament engineered for trench battles at the next level. Young is a fiery alpha who brings immense energy to the field and locker room. He majors in block destruction using base power and aggression to play through opponents. He extends and locks out as an edge-setter and sheds when needed, but his pursuit speed and range are average. He has the power to bull rush or drive through edges, but lacks instincts and variety in his rush approach. His NFL pressure production will lag behind without better go-to moves and counters. Young’s physical tools and rugged demeanor give him a chance to be an instant run-stopping upgrade with average rush.
Long, big, powerful, and high motor seem to fit Bears Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen’s ideal edge player. And as we’ve seen with the Bears’ additions thus far, they do seem to be trying to give Allen his type of players to fit his defense, so we definitely can’t count Young out. For what it’s worth, Young was also one of the stars of the Senior Bowl, as well.
THE CHICAGO BEARS HAVE THESE PICKS IN THE 2026 NFL DRAFT
Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn ImagesWe still have 37 days to go until the 2026 NFL Draft arrives. And there is still a lot to be sorted out between now and when the draft begins. But if it is indeed Zion Young’s name that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces to the Bears in the first round, I’m not sure that would shock anyone. I know that I wouldn’t be stunned to see Young go to the Bears at 25th overall, but I do think the board would have to shake out in a certain way for that to be the case.
Based on their need to find a safety to start next to free-agent addition Coby Bryant, I think the Bears would like to end up using their first-round pick on Thienemann or McNeil-Warren. However, this draft is also unique in that Chicago will likely have options that it likes available at safety, defensive tackle, and edge rusher when this front office goes on the clock in the second round with picks 57 and 60.
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