One of the biggest needs for the Chicago Bears going into the 2026 NFL Draft was the edge rusher position, yet the team chose not to add one from this year's class. Here is why the Bears didn't upgrade defensive end.
The Chicago Bears were one of 12 teams that didn't draft an edge rusher in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Of those teams, the Bears finished with the third-fewest total quarterback pressures (189) last season; only the Panthers (148) and Saints (187) had fewer.
- Broncos (285 QBP) - No. 1
- Seahawks (267 QBP) - No. 2
- Rams (251 QBP) - No. 3
- Steelers (227 QBP) - No. 8
- Falcons (224 QBP) - No. 9
- Vikings (219 QBP) - No. 13
- Browns (211 QBP) - No. 17
- Texans (210 QBP) - No. 18
- Cardinals (202 QBP) - No. 20
- Bears (189 QBP) - No. 25
- Saints (187 QBP) - No. 28
- Panthers (148 QBP) - No. 32
Anybody who watched any Bears games last season would know the team struggled to apply consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks. So, why didn't the team address the position not only in the draft but also in free agency?
The answer is simply that the Bears have confidence in who they currently have on the roster and the coaching staff to maximize the talent and were not willing to deviate from their board to reach for players they didn't believe were worth pursuing.
The only additions the Bears made to their defensive line were on the interior. Chicago selected Georgia Tech interior defensive lineman Jordan van den Berg in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft and also signed Neville Gallimore, Kentavius Street and James Lynch in free agency.
General manager Ryan Poles and coach Ben Johnson addressed the media at Halas Hall following the conclusion of the draft.
With no new faces at the edge position, Johnson explained how the team's pass rush can improve.
“We’re certainly going to coach better than what we did a year ago," Johnson said. "It starts there. We’ve made a concerted effort with how we’re going to get that done. We were excited about the guys that ended up finishing the season on IR, the trajectory that they were on, both Dayo (Odeyingbo) and Shemar (Turner). When you look at it from the start of the season to the point where they both got injured, we saw growth and we saw them trending the right direction in terms of what we want to see on game day.
(Montez) Sweat had one of his better years in the NFL, whether that shows up in the sack total or not. He’s a very complete player, both run game and pass game. And you saw tremendous growth from (Austin) Booker when we were able to get him back as well. The combination of us being able to coach better and those guys taking the next step as part of this system, we’ve got some pretty good pieces to work with.”
How Johnson envisions the coaching being better is by leaning on the experience from last season and the coaching staff having more time on task with the players. That is what he believes will create improvement in the pass rush.
After the Bears selected three straight offensive players on Day 2 of the draft, Poles shared his outlook about the edge rushers currently on the roster, highlighting Odeyingbo, Sweat, Turner and Booker.
"But with what that group is, and what they've been coming into and we feel like there's some developmental upside and like I said yesterday, I think year two in the system, we'll be able to take the next step," Poles said.
Poles also mentioned that the team did its research and expected there "to be a hot spot at the very top" of the second round for defensive linemen. Before the Bears selected at No. 57, nine defensive linemen were taken, including Illinois' Gabe Jacas, who went to the New England Patriots two picks before the Bears.
Despite seeing the D-linemen go off the board, Poles stayed true to the team's big board and was satisfied with the execution of this latest draft.
"I thought we were disciplined," Poles said. "Again, we've said this a few times, just following the board and the best player that was available to us. I think one thing that we take real seriously is each year we'll go back and review our process and review the draft and see where we could have done something a little bit different. Learn from that, and then just keep getting better as we go. But, I like the approach that we had. Came away with some really good players. Like I've said before, with any position, we're going to stay active, see what opportunities pop up. If we can improve our football team, we'll do it."
After free agency and the draft, the Bears have improved their roster, but the edge rusher position still remains the same as it was from last season. The Bears have faith in their current players and coaches to turn around a pass rush that was one of the worst in total quarterback pressures and sacks in 2025.
The Bears are taking a risky approach with one of the most important positions on an NFL roster, but they're willing to bet on themselves to improve the unit this upcoming season.