The Chicago Bears' 2026 draft clearly fulfilled the plan general manager Ryan Poles had going into it. That was also against the grain in spots. To the point, the early evaluations are generally on the skeptical side.
From a depth perspective, wide receiver was possible to see as a draft need for the Bears, and a Day 2 pick was a definite possibility. So when they used a third-round pick on the position, it was not overly surprising.
The surprise was rooted in the player, Zavion Thomas, from LSU.
For every analyst who ranked draft prospects this year, Thomas was not the best wide receiver available at pick No. 89. For most, if not all, he wasn't even close. But Ben Johnson clearly saw a lot to like, and the Bears' head coach has earned equity even if Thomas' role in the offense isn't likely to be robust right away.
Field Yates drops interesting insight about Zavion Thomas
ESPN analyst Field Yates joined ESPN 1000's "Waddle and Silvy" on Monday to talk about the Bears' draft. He was asked about the idea that Thomas could have been available to the Bears later than the third round, prompting him to share some direct insight he had.
"I will share a story, about this specific player", Yates said. "Before the draft I had someone reach out to me and said 'where's Zavion Thomas in your top 150?' And I said I didn't have him in there, why do you say that? And he said, 'because he's going in the third round.'
Yates said the unnamed person's sentiment about Thomas stuck with him when the Bears took him with the 89th overall pick. He also noted how it's easy for analysts like him, in deference to their rankings, to say a team shouldn't have taken a certain player at a certain spot because there are available players who they have ranked higher.
As Yates said, the Bears going "on an island" compared to the public, taking Thomas where they did, will naturally invite criticism if it doesn't pan out. But it seems they weren't really on an island at all, with other, similar buzz that another team would've taken Thomas in the third round if they hadn't.
Read more: Ryan Poles' clear-cut plan for Bears' 2026 draft is fully backed by data
Thomas has the kind of speed you can't teach (4.28 40 at the NFL Combine), and history generally shows teams are willing to invest noticeable draft capital in wide receivers who are in that kind of air. If he can be molded into a complete wide receiver under the tutelage of Antwaan Randle El, the Bears will really have something.
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