Brad Biggs: Bears will rely on ‘the silent tape’ to find competitive players in the NFL draft

(Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

CHICAGO — Assistant general manager Jeff King has been with the Chicago Bears long enough — initially hired as a scouting intern in 2015 — that he surely has received plenty of historical nuggets from board member Pat McCaskey.

One of the more recent ones: The cornerstone NFL franchise has been a part of every draft. The 91st NFL draft begins Thursday night.

“He said his favorite was the 1975 class headlined by Walter Payton,” King said Tuesday at Halas Hall. “So we have some work to do.”

The Bears have had some memorable drafts over the years for sure. The 1965 class featured Hall of Famers Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers selected with the Nos. 3 and 4 picks. The 1983 class put the franchise on the fast track to its only Super Bowl championship.

The Bears enjoyed a productive draft a year ago, getting significant contributions from tight end Colston Loveland, wide receiver Luther Burden III, running back Kyle Monangai and offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo.

Constructing the kind of sustainable winner the Bears envision probably will require another quality core of rookies, and the challenge is greater this year with the team picking near the end of the first round at No. 25. While the Bears owned three second-round picks last year, they have two this time and are in a solid position with four picks in the top 89.

General manager Ryan Poles touched on a few topics Tuesday — he said the team will work on a potential contract extension for right tackle Darnell Wright in the near future — before having King, promoted after the departure of Ian Cunningham to the Atlanta Falcons, handle all draft topics.

No one talks in specifics at this time of year, but while being vague overall, King was highly detailed in terms of what the team is seeking. It’s not a set number of starters or players at certain positions.

“Create competition for the roster,” he said. “Create hard decisions that we have to make come the start of the season. Add guys to our building that compete daily. That’s our goal.”

What sets apart players’ competitive levels?

“It’s the silent tape,” King said. “When you put on tape, the guys we probably get excited about the most, you don’t have to read the character. You can see it. You can see how they compete, show up in big games, pick up their teammates, raise the level of their teammates’ games.

“We can read everything we want — articles and all this — but what players show on tape is usually the product that you’re going to get.”

That’s one way of saying the Bears are looking for a collection of newcomers who have, as they say, some of “that dog in them” — the competitive juice and drive needed to excel when times are tough and in pivotal moments.

Which positions are the Bears targeting? Last year’s draft class helped coach Ben Johnson on the offensive side.

“If it’s equal, the need may come into play here or there,” King said. “But at the end of the day, you’re not going to go wrong by taking the best football player. I think we all agree with that. And so if it’s somewhat on the same plane, maybe the positions come into play. But as we see it, we’re going to take the best football player for now and the future.

“If (the draft) lines up like that defensively, sure. But we’re going to have to not lean on last year. We have to divorce ourselves from that success and start over. So what this team looks like? We may have more weapons. I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes.”

King echoed what Poles has said previously, that Johnson has a clear vision for what he wants at certain positions. But don’t get too fixated on a certain prototype at every spot.

“Ben and (defensive coordinator) Dennis (Allen) and HT (special teams coordinator Richard Hightower), they’re not done being creative, which makes it fun for us,” King said. “If we have to be a little bit different, if we have to look a little bit different, be a little more versatile here and there, they’re willing to change. They’re willing to adapt and we have to move along with that. That’s the fun part.”

The team added three defensive tackles in free agency. Defensive end looms as a spot of interest, especially considering Montez Sweat’s 10-sack season in 2025 was only the third time a Bears defender has reached double digits in the last 11 years (Robert Quinn had 18 1/2 in 2021, Khalil Mack 12 1/2 in 2018). Despite all the money — and draft capital for trades — the team has poured into edge rushers in that span, it has been a need area for some time.

Maybe there’s a match for the Bears near the end of Round 1. Both Poles and King said the team is open to anything — staying put, moving up or down — depending on the situation.

Overlooked in the pre-draft process has been the depth chart at cornerback. Jaylon Johnson has played a complete season only once, in 2024, and missed 10 games last season. Nahshon Wright left for the New York Jets after a ballhawking season in which he was on the field for 97% of the defensive snaps. Nick McCloud, who logged 436 snaps last season, remains a free agent.

Are the Bears highly confident that former second-round pick Tyrique Stevenson will deliver his best — and deliver it with consistency — in a contract season? He was really the third cornerback last season and got a lot of playing time because of Johnson’s injury situation.

“Tyrique’s no different than every young player in this league,” King said. “He’s had ups and he’s had his moments of downs. It’s our charge to help him through those. He’s made some great plays. The (forced) fumble versus Dallas changed the trajectory of that game.

“We’re never going to put a ceiling on a guy’s upside. We’re not going to put Tyrique in a box and say, ‘You’re going to be this.’ He’s still growing. He’s still learning. He’s shown those flashes of being a great player, and we have a lot hope that through this offseason he’s going to get there. We saw him in the building (Monday). He looks great.”

It’s a position at least worth thinking about in Round 1, just like safety, where the team signed Coby Bryant in free agency and looks to add another player in the draft. If there’s a left tackle the building is enamored with, that could make sense too.

King inserted a little humor in the conversation when asked about predictions there could be a lot of trades.

“They say that now and then you get on the clock and it’s like: ‘Well, what do you want? Well, we’re not doing that, we’re going to stick and pick,'” King said. “I think it’s for you guys to write about now. Not to say there won’t be. It’s just hard to say.”

It will be a really good draft if the Bears get to January and say they developed a rookie class that offered about as much as the one from last year. As Johnson and everyone else in the building is saying, though, last year is done with.

So there’s always that 1975 draft class to aim for.

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