{"id":849316,"date":"2026-04-02T13:39:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T13:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849316\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T13:39:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T13:39:36","slug":"chicago-bears-address-major-needs-in-perfect-3-round-joint-mock-draft-from-espn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849316\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Bears Address Major Needs in Perfect 3-Round Joint Mock Draft from ESPN"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bears still have some needs to address<\/a> ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft and a new mock draft from four ESPN analysts takes care of a lot of them.<\/p>\n

Four of those needs come at defensive tackle, edge rusher, safety and linebacker. <\/p>\n

Chicago needs more help on the interior, and specifically a player who can upgrade the run defense<\/a> while also providing a strong interior rusher.<\/p>\n

At linebacker, the Bears signed Devin Bush<\/a>, but they cut Tremaine Edmunds<\/a> and T.J. Edwards is returning from a serious injury<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The safety position also saw significant losses this offseason, with Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker departing<\/a> in free agency.<\/p>\n

Then, there’s edge rusher, where the Bears have question marks opposite Montez Sweat. Dayo Odeyingbo struggled last season<\/a> and is also coming back from a torn Achilles.<\/p>\n

Bears’ picks in joint ESPN mock draft\"Clemson<\/p>\n

Clemson defensive lineman Peter Woods. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

In a joint three-round mock draft<\/a> from ESPN’s Mel Kiper, Field Yates, Matt Miller and Jordan Reid, Chicago’s picks went like this:<\/p>\n

Round 1: DT Peter Woods, ClemsonRound 2: EDGE Dani Dennis-Sutton, Penn State Round 2: S\/LB Kyle Louis, PittsburghRound 3: WR Antonio Williams, ClemsonWhy this Bears mock is perfect\"Penn<\/p>\n

Penn State defensive lineman Dani Dennis-Sutton. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Talking about checking several boxes.<\/p>\n

Woods certainly has kinks to work out in his game, but his college tape shows a player with plenty of potential as both an interior pass rusher and run defender.<\/p>\n

Dennis-Sutton was a menace for Penn State the past two seasons after tallying 8.5 sacks in each and a combined 25 tackles for loss. He also showed he can play the run with a Pro Football Focus<\/a> run defense grade of 77.1.<\/p>\n

At 6-foot, 220 pounds, and with his 4.53 speed, it’s believed that Louis could play a hybrid at the next level, and we know the Bears need help at safety and linebacker. <\/p>\n

Even if he just sticks with one position, Louis, who posted PFF grades<\/a> of 70 or higher as a pass rusher, run defender and in coverage, makes sense for Chicago.<\/p>\n

Last but not least, we have Williams. <\/p>\n

\"Clemson<\/p>\n

Clemson wideout Antonio Williams. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Sure, the Bears don’t have a dire need at wide receiver, but the position is still a need after the DJ Moore trade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The jury is still out on Rome Odunze and Luther Burden, even though both have shown immense promise. <\/p>\n

Chicago also does not have great depth at the position, with guys like Jadhae Walker and Kalif Raymond jockeying for WR3 snaps, and we know the latter is only on a one-year deal.<\/p>\n

The 5-foot-11 wide receiver brings 4.41 speed and offers some versatility, although he will spend most of his time in the slot.<\/p>\n

If the Bears can come away with this haul in the 2026 NFL Draft, it will have been a successful one for general manager Ryan Poles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Bears still have some needs to address ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft and a new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,692,391,2493,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-849316","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-bears","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-bears","11":"tag-chicagobears","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116335396866783612","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}