The 2025 NFL Draft has come and gone, and for the Chicago Bears, they came away with eight players at various positions with the hope of them making an impact during the 2025 season. The Bears’ most impactful selections included tight end Colston Loveland, wide receiver Luther Burden III, offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo, and defensive tackle Shemar Turner, who were all taken with picks inside the top 70.
One position many expected to be a focus was noticeably absent until the very last round: running back. In a deep class that included star power at the top, the Bears and general manager Ryan Poles did not address the position until they selected Kyle Monangai out of Rutgers with pick No. 233 in the seventh round. While Monangai had a productive career and rushed for 1,200 yards in back-to-back seasons, many believed the Bears would have spent one of their early picks at the position. It turns out they tried.
According to Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune, the Bears were focused on landing a few different running backs, most notably Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson. Wiederer writes that while the Bears made phone calls to see whether or not they could trade up for Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty in the first round, Henderson was the more realistic target.
“On Friday evening, fingers in the Halas Hall draft room remained crossed that a swing at landing a playmaking running back would connect,” Wiederer wrote. “Poles pressed the gas and made aggressive attempts to trade up. Henderson’s blend of speed and vision, plus his tenacity in pass protection and skill as a pass catcher, were alluring. The Bears had significant interest.”
The Bears were discussing possible deals with the teams in front of the New England Patriots, the team that ended up taking Henderson one pick in front of them, but couldn’t close a trade. Chicago stood pat and selected Burden, still giving them an offensive weapon to add to head coach Ben Johnson’s offense.
Henderson and Jeanty weren’t the only backs the Bears had interest in. Wiederer reports that Chicago had interest in Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo, who was selected by the New York Giants just four picks before the Bears were on the clock. Poles opted to trade down with the Buffalo Bills a few minutes later. It’s clear the Bears were sniped multiple times while trying to add a running back, which seemed to be an obvious need.
To his credit, Poles was working the phones to try and move ahead of some of these teams to get the player he coveted. He had a limit, however, and wouldn’t overpay by relinquishing future assets. “I do think you can get into a lot of trouble when you start trying to manipulate things to get into certain pockets, and it ends up hurting your team long term,” Poles said via Wiederer when the draft was complete.
Time will tell if Poles was right not to overpay for Henderson. There are still questions surrounding the running back position with D’Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson, and Monangai, and it remains to be seen what the Bears will do next to address them. They tried to make a splash, though.