With the NFL draft over, it’s time to look forward to the next event on the football calendar. For the Chicago Bears, that would be May 9-11 for rookie minicamp at Halas Hall.
It won’t have the same excitement since first-round draft pick Colston Loveland is still recovering from shoulder surgery to repair an AC joint in January, so it’s unlikely he will participate on the field. However, Loveland is anticipated to be ready for training camp in July, according to Bears senior director of player personnel Jeff King.
The Bears will still have their seven other rookies ready to go a little over two weeks from now. Until rookie minicamp officially begins, let’s discuss what the top three biggest questions are about this Bears team.
Starting with …
1. Who plays offensive tackle and where?
This has to be one of the biggest questions on most Bears fans' minds. General manager Ryan Poles selected Boston College offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo with the 56th overall pick in the second round.
That’s a high investment. Trapilo primarily played right tackle while he was in college, lining up at the position for 1,483 snaps over the last two years and then 646 snaps at left tackle during his freshman season.
Darnell Wright, a top 10 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, is the Bears' starting right tackle. Are the Bears planning on moving Wright to the left side so Trapilo can play right tackle?
Poles opened up that possibility two days before the 2025 NFL Draft when answering questions about Wright and the possibility of him switching sides.
“I think that's a conversation, we'll see how everything goes,” Poles said. “He clearly has the ability to play left and right. We saw that in college. That was part of the value in taking Darnell, so if he had to play left, I think he could play left. I think we're all excited about his stuff going right.”
Wright played left during his sophomore year at Tennessee and played 920 snaps there in 2021. However, throughout Wright's collegiate and NFL career, he has lined up at right tackle for 3,587 snaps.
If the Bears are truly considering moving Wright, it’s going to be an adjustment for someone who has primarily played at right tackle.
Braxton Jones is still recovering from his fractured fibula and will be limited in training camp. Maybe the expectation right now is for Kiran Amegadjie to start at left tackle until Jones can regain his starting spot. In the meantime, Trapilo sits and develops. Or maybe the Bears see Trapilo as a viable option at left tackle.
It’s too tough to say right now, and the rookie minicamp could indicate where the Bears want to start Trapilo. Regardless, it’s a huge question for the Bears, and it would be best to find answers quickly.
2. How do the Bears feel about the running back room?
At this point, it’s well documented that the Bears tried and wanted to move up at least twice to select running backs in this draft. The first was for Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, but the asking price was too much. The other was in the second round for Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson, but the Bears couldn’t secure a deal with the Seahawks at No. 35 or with the Patriots at No. 38, according to Dan Wiederer of The Chicago Tribune.
The Bears drafted a running back, but it wasn’t until the seventh round with the 233rd overall pick. Chicago selected Kyle Monangai from Rutgers. The 5-foot-8, 211-pound back ran for 1,279 yards and 13 touchdowns on 256 attempts.
Mongangai will join a Bears’ running back room that consists of D’Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer, and Ian Wheeler.
But is that enough, or will the Bears look to add another playmaker in the backfield?
There has been a heavy discussion on the Bears potentially adding free-agent running back Nick Chubb.
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) April 30, 2025
Maybe the Bears do sign Chubb and hope the 29-year-old running back, who has only played in 10 games the past two seasons, can stay healthy and look closer to the runner who was putting up four consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons. But that seems like a reach at this point.
J.K. Dobbins is another running back that could be in the mix. The Chargers drafted North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton in the first round, and Dobbins is coming off his best year in the NFL, when he ran for 905 yards and nine touchdowns on 195 attempts.
The Bears could just roll with who they have on the roster for now and potentially sign someone later if they don’t see enough out of the current group. Still, knowing the Bears were interested in some of the top running backs is noteworthy on what they think about their cluster of players.
3. Is there enough talent on the edge?
The Bears do have their starters on the edges with Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo. For the most part, that is solid; however, Odeyingbo has to prove he was worth the three-year, $48 million contract with $32 million guaranteed.
It’s the depth behind those two that creates a lot of questions. The group includes Austin Booker, Daniel Hardy, Dominique Robinson, Jamree Kromah and rookie Shemar Turner, who will likely play inside but does have versatility to kick to the edge.
One of the biggest needs for the Bears going into the draft was the edge position, and they came away empty besides Turner.
Poles expressed after the draft, they followed their board and stuck to it. But could that philosophy end up backfiring and hurting the Bears because they passed on potential edge rushers in that second round?
With the No. 39 overall pick, the Bears selected Luther Burden III. That gave Caleb Williams another weapon to work with this upcoming season, but wide receiver wasn’t a huge need on this team. Two edge rushers came off the board at No. 44 and No. 45 with Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku and Ohio State’s JT Tuimoloau.
Only time will tell how all those players do in their respective careers, but there were options for the Bears. The Bears must have confidence in the group, and that could be due to the coaches who will be tasked with elevating the defensive linemen. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett will have their work cut out for them to find ways to maximize the potential of the current edge rushers.