Bears fans won't argue too much about Mel Kiper Jr.'s team grade for draft

The Chicago Bears needed this draft to be a smashing success to keep the momentum going after a strong 2025 season.

While some fans were excited, and others were disappointed, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper was much more down the middle, giving them a modest B grade.

"Dillon Thieneman was a great get at No. 25. Coordinator Dennis Allen can move him all over the place -- deep safety, in the box, out wide, over the slot. He's an instinctive player who had a six-interception season in 2023 while still at Purdue (before transferring to Oregon), and he should help make up for some of the on-ball production lost in the free agency exodus in the secondary. The rest of the class was slightly up and down. Logan Jones -- my top-ranked center -- looks like the perfect Drew Dalman replacement. Yes, the Bears traded for Garrett Bradbury, but I wanted to see Chicago make a long-term move there, and Jones is already essentially a seasoned pro with 51 career starts. At receiver, general manager Ryan Poles went down the board a little bit for Zavion Thomas; he was a clear Day 3 guy. Potentially most important in all of this is Chicago not looking at edge rusher or defensive tackle until Jordan van den Berg at No. 213. Chicago needed someone opposite Sweat and didn't get it, and while I heard some Day 3 sleeper love for van den Berg, he's a depth guy."

Mel Kiper gives the Chicago Bears a B for the 2026 NFL Draft

To be fair, this grade may be a bit of the status quo for Kiper. The lowest grade that Kiper gave any team was a C. He gave out 12 Bs overall, with 3 B+s and 3 B-s. So, 18 of the 32 NFL teams sat right in that B range, making the Bears essentially have an average or right down the middle draft.

It seems that there were about seven drafts that Mel liked more than others, seven that he did not like as much as others, and the rest were just in the middle range. This is where the Bears sat.

If you said that the Bears' draft ranked between eighth and 25th, you would be right, but most fans may be leaning closer to 25th than eighth at this point.

After one round, the team nailed it. They hit on Dillon Thieneman, the best player available, who happened to play a position of need. That was likely an A pick. However, even if Logan Jones was accepted by fans and was a position of need, they may have been able to find him later in the draft, and they had other needs. These needs ended up unaddressed throughout the night.

The Sam Roush and Zavion Thomas picks are what really lower the grade. Roush is currently the Bears' third tight end, and Thomas was a stretch to take that high. Beyond that, these picks left them missing out on glaring defensive line needs.

Chicago went cornerback, linebacker, and defensive tackle on Day 3, but the defensive tackle was not until the sixth round. Throughout the entire draft, they did not take a single edge rusher. Most fans would probably agree with an A on Day 1, but closer to a D on Day 2 and a C on Day 3. That may average closer to a C or at least a B- overall.

So, Kiper may have been slightly kinder than some fans who think that they reached and missed on positions of need.

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