The 2020 NFL Draft starts on Thursday, April 23. As a lead up to the draft, we’ll be giving a team-by-team breakdown for positional needs. For each team, we’ll give an overview of each team’s current depth chart and how big of a need each position in the upcoming draft. Find all teams and the rest of our draft content in our NFL Draft Hub.

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Chicago Bears 2020 Draft Picks Overview

Round 2 (43)
Round 2 (50)
Round 5 (163)
Round 6 (196)
Round 6 (200)
Round 7 (226)
Round 7 (233)

Chicago Bears Offense

by Rich Hribar

2019 Chicago Bears Offensive Ranks

*denotes new addition

Quarterback

Mitchell Trubisky
Nick Foles*
Tyler Bray

Mitchell Trubisky enters the final year of his rookie contract. The team has yet to pick up his fifth-year option while they went out and traded for Nick Foles as immediate competition. Foles is on his fifth team in six seasons and hasn’t thrown 200 passes in an NFL season since 2015 with the Rams. After trading for Foles, Chicago reworked his contract to a three-year deal with the first out-year coming after the 2021 season. The Bears still may not yet have their true long term quarterback, but they aren’t players to add a passer with high draft capital.

Running back

David Montgomery
Tarik Cohen
Ryan Nall

The Bears traded up in the third round last season to 73rd overall to select David Montgomery. His rookie season was a mixed bag, registering 1,074 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns, but averaged just 4.0 yards per touch. Tarik Cohen has caught 203 passes over the first three years of his career and was a hit for the team in the fourth round of the 2017 draft. He enters the final year of his rookie contract. With that expiring contract and only Ryan Nall after him, the Bears should be looking to add a body in the later rounds. 

Wide receiver

Allen Robinson
Anthony Miller
Cordarrelle Patterson
Javon Wims
Riley Ridley
Thomas Ives
Reggie Davis
Alex Wesley

Chicago is set at the top of their receiving group with Allen Robinson turning only 27 years old this August, but he does enter 2020 in the final year of his contract. Anthony Miller took a stride forward in year two (52-656-2), catching 35 passes for 438 yards and two scores over the team’s final seven games. Miller (78%) and Robinson (41%) ran a lot of routes from the slot in 2019.

With the team losing Taylor Gabriel and Robinson entering his final season under contract, the team needs to add an outside receiver for immediate use and insulation. Javon Wims only caught 19-of-39 targets for 10.3 Y/R when Gabriel went down last year and fourth-round rookie (126th overall) Riley Ridley couldn’t leapfrog Wims, playing just 108 snaps in his first season. 

Tight End

Jimmy Graham*
Adam Shaheen
Ben Braunecker
J.P. Holtz
Demetrius Harris*
Jesper Horsted
Eric Saubert
Darion Clark
Dax Raymond

The Bears currently have 10 tight ends rostered right now, but still may not have one they can count on. Chicago tight ends combined for just 46 catches for 416 yards and two touchdowns last season. Coming off that production, the team signed 33-year-old Jimmy Graham, who posted his fewest receptions per game (2.4) of his career and his fewest receiving yards per game (27.9) since his rookie season in 2010. 

The team also added Demetrius Harris via a one-year deal. 2017 second-round pick Adam Shaheen enters the final season of his rookie contract with just 26 career receptions and 21 games missed due to injury. The Bears likely still need to find their tight end of the future, but have a lot of current resources tied into the position. 

Offensive Line

LT: Charles Leno/ Dino Boyd
LG: James Daniels/Corey Levin
C: Cody Whitehair/Sam Mustipher
RG: Germain Ifedi/Rashaad Coward
RT: Bobby Massie/Alex Bars

The Chicago offensive line was below league average in 2019, ranking 20th in pass-blocking efficiency per our metrics while ranking 21st in adjusted sack rate allowed (7.3%). Some of that could be tied to Trubisky, who was only pressured on 32.1% of his dropbacks, which modestly ranked 11th lowest. The team also ranked 13th in pass block win rate per ESPN. But in the run game, the team ranked 29th in adjusted line yards created (3.86) at Football Outsiders. 

The team still has a strong asset in Cody Whitehair anchoring the middle and he’s under contract through 2024. Outside of Whitehair, the rest of the line is a mixed bag. The team added Germain Ifedi on a one-year contract this offseason to potentially fill the void left by Kyle Long (who only played 12 games the past two seasons). Ifedi allowed a league-high 38 quarterback hurries playing right tackle for the Seahawks last season.

Bobby Massie is signed through 2022, James Daniels 2021 and Charles Leno 2022, but outside of Whitehair, the Bears could still stand to add competition to any other position on the offensive line.  

Chicago Bears Defense

by Dan Pizzuta

2019 Chicago Bears Defensive Ranks

interior defensive line

Akiem Hicks
Eddie Goldman
Roy Robertson-Harris
Bilal Nichols
Brent Urban
Abdullah Anderson

Akiem Hicks has been a world-beater along the defensive line but missed most of last season with multiple injuries. In his absence, both Goldman and Robertson-Harris played well. Goldman was the prototypical run stuffer and Robertson-Harris added some pass rush production. Abdullah Anderson also had a high pressure rate from the interior on a limited number of snaps. This is a deep group, but Hicks will be 31 in 2020, though Goldman just turned 26 and Robertson-Harris will turn 27 in July. 

EDGE

Khalil Mack
Robert Quinn*
Barkevious Mingo*
Devante Bond
James Vaughters
Isaiah Irving

The Bears gave up a lot of draft picks (they still don’t have a 2020 first or third) for Khalil Mack. Mack has been everything the Bears hoped, but only one edge rusher could do so much. Chicago doubled down on the pass rush by giving a massive $30 million guaranteed to Robert Quinn this offseason. Quinn has been an ESPN Pass Rush Win Rate darling for the past two seasons, but the Bears still made a heavy investment for a No. 2 rusher who will turn 30 in July. Barkevious Mingo is the type of third pass rusher who could easily be replaced. 

Off-ball Linebacker

Roquan Smith
Danny Trevathan
Joel Iyeibuniwe
Josh Woods

Both Smith and Trevethan missed time in 2019 but when healthy they can be one of the better linebacker duos in the league. Trevethan is still a good run stopper but has only played one 16 game season since he came to Chicago. While he turned 30 years old in March, he also signed a new three-year contract. After Nick Kwiatkowski left in free agency, there is little depth behind the top-two and the Bears played 30% of their defensive snaps in base last season, per SIS.

Cornerback

Kyle Fuller
Artie Burns*
Buster Skrine
Kevin Toliver
Duke Shelley
Michael Joseph
Xavier Crawford
Tre Robertson*

Both Fuller and Skrine were average cornerbacks last season by Adjusted Yards allowed per coverage snap but the Bears will miss Prince Amukamara, who was the team’s best corner (but is still a free agent). Artie Burns was a free agent signing, who the Bears hope will benefit from a change of scenery. Burns fell out of favor with the Pittsburgh coaching staff the past season and played just 9.3% of the defensive snaps for the Steelers in 2019 and was a healthy scratch for the final four games of the season. 

Safety

Eddie Jackson
Deon Bush
Jordan Lucas*
DeAndre Houston-Carson
Kentrell Brice*

Eddie Jackson is great. That’s also where the Bears’ safety depth stops. Over the past two offseasons, Chicago has gone from Adrian Amos to Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to what looks to be a mix of special teamers and castoffs. Deon Bush hasn’t played more than 15.5% of the team’s defensive snaps since he played 45% his rookie season in 2016. Jordan Lucas has been mostly a special teamer for his four seasons between two teams. Kentrell Price wasn’t on a team in 2019 and was cut from the Seattle Dragons of the XFL in minicamp. DeAndre Houston-Carson’s career-high in defensive snaps is 5.3%.