B-
Chicago Bears
The Bears robbed the room for Thomas. Final grade: B-.
by Johnny Maxwell ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 7 picks
· 2 steals
· 1 reaches
The best pick of the weekend was also the simplest. The Bears watched Zavion Thomas slide 23 picks past his grade and did not hesitate. A sturdy weekend that grades out a B-.
Leaving linebacker unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall. If Graves pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about.
On the needs board they went 6 of 8, with edge rusher the one that mattered most.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but linebacker.
Pick-by-Pick
No drama and no debate, Akheem Mesidor went about where he belonged in slot 33. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren at pick 57 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
A clean, defensible pick in the 60th overall pick with a little surplus value in Jake Slaughter. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Circle this one: Jadarian Price at the 89th pick is a fall that decides a draft. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A tidy little value on Davison Igbinosun in the Round 4 slot, a step better than break-even. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Aaron Graves. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Zavion Thomas in Round 7, Pick 23 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.