It won't take much for Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams to make the leap into superstardom, but the 2026 NFL Draft could help him turn the corner. GM Ryan Poles has four picks in the top 89, courtesy of trading DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills for their second-round selection.
Poles isn't batting a thousand on all his transactions, but the man can swing a trade. He redeemed himself and then some for the Chase Claypool misstep with the deal that ultimately scored Chicago the No. 1 overall pick and Williams in the 2024 draft.
Entering his third NFL season and second year in head coach Ben Johnson's offensive system, Williams is poised to take the league by storm. At least one quality draft pick, never mind two or three, would go a long way to ensuring that assertion comes to fruition.
This three-round mock draft via the PFF simulator leans into the SEC and goes all-in on putting Williams in the best possible position to flourish.
Caleb Williams would be over the moon with SEC-centric Bears 3-round mock draft
Round 1, Pick 25 — Kadyn Proctor, OT, Alabama
Ozzy Trapilo suffered the dreaded torn patellar tendon knee injury that's especially devastating for offensive linemen to come back from. He may miss the entire season. The Bears could mess around and roll with Theo Benedet as their left tackle in Week 1. Or, they could just plug Man Mountain Kadyn Proctor into the lineup.
Not many humans are 6'7", 352 pounds like Mr. Proctor, never mind anywhere near as athletic as he is at his size. While he could stand to lose a little weight, Proctor is a powerful blocker who'd be devastating in the run game and tough for even the most adept pass rushers to move around.
Ben Johnson loves to pound the rock. Caleb Williams is elite at sack avoidance. Any shortcomings Proctor has in his pass protection technique during his early days as a pro can easily be offset by the obvious mauling strength he'd bring to Chicago's offensive line.
Worst-case scenario? Trapilo, Benedet, or a future player prove to be a superior option. Proctor kicks inside to left guard. Joe Thuney slides over to center. The Bears' o-line is still flush with awesome talent across the board.
Round 2, Pick 57 — Chris Brazzell II, WR, Tennessee
Most Tennessee receivers enter the NFL with a certain lack of polish to their game and a limited route tree. Not so much the case for Chris Brazzell II, who gets in and out of his breaks with unusual explosiveness, especially for someone with a towering 6-foot-4 frame.
Brazzell can blow the top off the opposing secondary with his 4.37 40 speed. He averaged 16.4 yards per catch last year en route to 1,017 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. A big play waiting to happen.
Between Colston Loveland, Rome Odunze, and Luther Burden III, Chicago has plenty of weapons to free up Brazzell for favorable matchups. Johnson's playbook may present a steep learning curve, but again, Brazzell isn't your standard Tennessee wide receiver prospect. The question is, will he still be on the board this long?
Round 2, Pick 60 (via Bills) — Mike Washington Jr., RB, Arkansas
Happy to proclaim that I had Mike Washington Jr. 36th on my pre-Combine big board. That was before he blew the doors off with a 4.33 40 at 223 pounds.
D'Andre Swift ain't got that kind of juice. Kyle Monangai definitely ain't got that kind of juice. Swift is more of a home run threat, yet too often he wants to bounce to the outside and misses big chunk runs because of that tendency. Must drive Johnson up a wall when he watches the film.
Washington is a load to bring down and is a decisive north-south runner with legitimate power and, yes, breakaway speed. On top of rushing for 1,070 yards at 6.4 yards per carry in his only year at Arkansas on an outmatched, two-win Razorbacks team, Washington had 28 receptions. He has legitimate three-down potential.
With Swift on an expiring contract, the Bears should nab a viable successor in Washington if they get the chance with that DJ Moore pick.
Round 3, Pick 89 — Jake Slaughter, C, Florida
So maybe the premise of Thuney converting to center is too much of a stretch for ya? Great. We'll scoop up Florida's Jake Slaughter as immediate competition for Garrett Bradbury, whom Poles acquired in yet another trade from New England for a 2027 fifth-round pick.
That type of compensation doesn't preclude the Bears from bringing in a strong rookie challenger for Bradbury, even if he just started in the last Super Bowl. Bradbury was PFF's 29th-ranked center last season, with a bottom-five grade as a run blocker.
Across his last three years of football, Slaughter has given up a grand total of 15 QB pressures on 1,152 pass blocking snaps. So even where Bradbury succeeds, the ex-Gator could have a superior ceiling.
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Slaughter registered an 81.7 PFF zone blocking grade in 2025, too. That makes him a nice fit for Johnson's run scheme.