{"id":873515,"date":"2026-04-24T13:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/873515\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T13:00:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:00:26","slug":"best-remaining-players-available-for-the-chicago-bears-on-day-2-of-the-2026-nfl-draft-after-passing-on-a-defensive-lineman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/873515\/","title":{"rendered":"Best remaining players available for the Chicago Bears on Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft after passing on a defensive lineman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plenty of high-caliber talent remains on the board going into Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft where the Chicago Bears<\/a> currently hold three selections with plenty of needs to still address.<\/p>\n

The Chicago Bears made a stellar move in the first-round of the 2026 NFL Draft coming away with Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman<\/a>, a player who checks every single box for this team<\/a> and will be an immediate impact defender.<\/p>\n

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For fans concerned about the Bears not adding a top pass rusher, I understand where you\u2019re coming from. Fortunately, there\u2019s still solid talent on the board going into Day 2 and the Bears currently have three selections to work with on Friday.<\/p>\n

Outside of the defensive line, the Bears have a few other holes to hopefully fill as well. So, let\u2019s break down the top remaining prospects by position.<\/p>\n

Best remaining 2026 NFL Draft prospects for the Bears on Day 2Defensive End:<\/p>\n

Deni Dennis-Sutton, Penn State<\/p>\n

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Dennis Allen has a particular type when it comes to his edge rushers, prioritizing long and explosive players off the edge. Here are the top names that fit that bill, saying the Bears actually want to add another defensive end in the second or third-round.<\/p>\n

Defensive Tackle:<\/p>\n

Kayden McDonald, Ohio State<\/p>\n

Kaleb Proctor, SE Louisiana<\/p>\n

Dominique Orange, Iowa State<\/p>\n

Personally, I view defensive tackle as a bigger need that defensive end for the future of this team. Unfortunately, it\u2019s a weak class that already saw two players come off the board in the first-round. My ideal option out of this group would easily be Gracen Halton.<\/p>\n

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Center:<\/p>\n

Chicago met with multiple center prospects during the pre-draft process to ideally land a long-term option behind Garrett Bradbury<\/a> after losing Drew Dalman<\/a>. Sam Hecht is a player the staff spent ample time<\/a> with during his Pro Day and on his 30-visit. He\u2019s a strong name to watch that fits this offensive scheme perfectly.<\/p>\n

Cornerback:<\/p>\n

D\u2019Angelo Ponds, Indiana<\/p>\n

Cornerback is a sneaky need for this team, both outside and inside. Yes, the Bears have Jaylon Johnson<\/a> and Kyler Gordon<\/a>, but the team could upgrade the other outside CB spot and Dennis Allen still needs a dime replacement for C.J. Gardner-Johnson<\/a> (unless Cam Lewis<\/a> plays that role). Colton Hood is my top outside option and Keionte Scott is my top inside option. For the outside spot, Al Harris is looking for tall players with long limbs.<\/p>\n

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Linebacker:<\/p>\n

Jacob Rodriguez, Texas Tech<\/p>\n

The Bears already invested plenty into this room during free agency adding Devin Bush<\/a> and Jack Sanborn<\/a> while re-signing D\u2019Marco Jackson. I\u2019d be surprised if the team uses a Top-100 pick on another linebacker. If they do, this team is clearly looking for speed which would make Jacob Rodriguez or Kyle Louis ideal fits.<\/p>\n

Wide Receiver:<\/p>\n

De\u2019Zhaun Stribling, Ole Miss<\/p>\n

Zachariah Branch, Gerogia<\/p>\n

Brenen Thompson, Mississippi St.<\/p>\n

Kevin Coleman Jr., Missouri<\/p>\n

Ben Johnson\u2019s offense is already solid at WR with Rome Odunze<\/a>, Luther Burden III<\/a>, Kalif Raymond<\/a>, and Jahdae Walker<\/a>. If Johnson feels the need to add another player to the room, it\u2019d be a slot weapon that can handle the dirty work. These names come to mind after ruling out taller outside WRs in Denzel Boston, Chris Brazzell II, and Ted Hurst.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plenty of high-caliber talent remains on the board going into Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2070],"tags":[4955,6959,7210,374,1172,26855,692,391,2493,227,1156,3126,44549,8897,11095,2551,7,23926,6303,26718,80026,32189,7400,3004,18656,16149,6282,4422,446,216,6,24178,1787,520,2495,526],"class_list":{"0":"post-873515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-antonio-williams","10":"tag-auburn-tigers","11":"tag-bears","12":"tag-c-j-gardner-johnson","13":"tag-cam-lewis","14":"tag-chicago","15":"tag-chicago-bears","16":"tag-chicagobears","17":"tag-cincinnati","18":"tag-defensive-line","19":"tag-defensive-lineman","20":"tag-deion-burks","21":"tag-dennis-allen","22":"tag-devin-bush","23":"tag-drew-dalman","24":"tag-football","25":"tag-gabe-jacas","26":"tag-garrett-bradbury","27":"tag-germie-bernard","28":"tag-gracen-halton","29":"tag-harold-perkins-jr","30":"tag-jack-sanborn","31":"tag-jahdae-walker","32":"tag-jaishawn-barham","33":"tag-jaylon-johnson","34":"tag-kalif-raymond","35":"tag-kyler-gordon","36":"tag-luther-burden-iii","37":"tag-miami","38":"tag-nfl","39":"tag-oklahoma-memorial-stadium","40":"tag-oklahoma-sooners","41":"tag-pittsburgh","42":"tag-rome-odunze","43":"tag-tennessee"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873515","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=873515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}