One More Pre-Playoffs Chicago Bears Mock 2026 Offseason

Earlier, I went through a full mock offseason. But a single mock draft is always so underwhelming, so here's another mock draft with the yielded roster assuming the same free agency period with signings of S Jaquan Brisker, TE Noah Fant, and LB D'Marco Jackson (more detail here).

#29: Bears draft Clemson DE T.J. Parker
The true best-case scenario. Parker and Oregon's Matayo Uiagalelei are the most likely gets at #29. Parker is the dream, even though he isn't quite as tall and quite as long as Dennis Allen wants, he's a plug and play three-down DE given his ability to stop the run.

#61: Bears draft Oregon S Dillon Thieneman
Thieneman continually makes it into this late-2nd round territory and I just don't get it. He looks like a star. He's a complete player. If he was 6-2, I think he'd go in the top half of the 1st round. For now, I'll be ecstatic taking him here instead.

There were good DT options here and there won't be later, but Thieneman is too good to pass up here.

#93: Bears draft Florida State DT Darrell Jackson Jr.
I had to pass on Emmanuel McNeil-Warren to make this pick, but I think that's OK. Jackson is fun. His athletic profile is outrageous at 6'5, 337 lbs. with a 7-2 wingspan. I'm not certain how good Jackson is at the moment, but he's a good run defender now in a physique. It's worth the shot here.

Bears trade #124, #207, #242, and #248 to Denver for #108
This is a lot of depth to surrender. But, given the roster construction at hand, it's worthwhile to get...

#108: Bears draft Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez
Rodriguez is an incredibly fun prospect. He was an elite college player against the run and the pass, and he has enough measurables to assume that he can start in the NFL despite average speed. But the best part of the profile? He was a QB at Virginia before transferring to Texas Tech to become a LB. He reads the field exceptionally well. Oh wait; the actual best part of the profile? He's the spiritual successor to the Peanut Punch. Rodriguez must be a Bear.

Bears trade TE Cole Kmet to New York Jets for #139
Referenced in the earlier blog post, this is needed for cap space.

#139: Bears draft Texas S Michael Taaffe
Taaffe has a really interesting profile. He's way underweight at 190 lbs. But he's overcome that at Texas, brings tons of special teams value, and his primary limitation -- tackling in the box -- is the primary strength of Brisker and Thieneman. Taaffe can play off of those guys well, even serving as Kyler Gordon's backup in the slot. He'd be a nice roster fit.

#168: Bears draft Georgia TE Lawson Luckie
Luckie isn't a great prospect. He's a subpar blocking TE in an offense that definitely wants its TEs to block. But he's a strong receiving target and can serve as a quality red zone receiving option as he develops the rest of his game. I needed to give Ben Johnson something in this Draft!

Proof:

QB (3): Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent, FREE AGENT

RB (4): D'Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai, FREE AGENT, FREE AGENT

TE (4): Colston Loveland, Noah Fant, Lawson Luckie, FREE AGENT

WR (5): D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Jahdae Walker, FREE AGENT

OT (4): Darnell Wright, Ozzy Trapilo, Theo Benedet, FREE AGENT

OG (3): Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson, Kiran Amegadjie

C (2):   Drew Dalman, Luke Newman

DE (5): Montez Sweat, Dayo Odeyingbo, Austin Booker, Daniel Hardy, T.J. Parker

DT (5): Grady Jarrett, Gervon Dexter, Shemar Turner, Darrell Jackson Jr, FREE AGENT

ILB (2): T.J. Edwards, D'Marco Jackson

OLB (4): Amen Ogbongbemiga, Noah Sewell, Ruben Hyppolite, Jacob Rodriguez

CB (6): Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, Josh Blackwell, Terell Smith, Zah Frazier

S (5):  Jaquan Brisker, Dillon Thieneman, Michael Taaffe, FREE AGENT, FREE AGENT

SP (3): Cairo Santos, Tory Taylor, FREE AGENT

I never know how these mocks are going to go when I start. But this one offers a really nice contrast to the one in the prior post. That mock featured tons of depth additions across the roster, but the combination of Parker and Thieneman at the top of this class is just better. I could've gone a few different directions in the 3rd round, but I'm increasingly convinced that the Bears need to add a mid-round DT prospect to pour some extra juice into that room.

Enjoy!