The Chicago Bears Never Draft Who I Want… Except…

Q: What notable players did the Chicago Bears draft in the 1990s?

In the 1990s, the Bears drafted Chris Zorich in 1991, Rashaan Salaam in 1995, and Curtis Enis in 1998, all of whom are considered draft busts.

Q: Who was the only player the author wanted that the Bears actually drafted?

The author wanted the Bears to draft Brian Urlacher in 2000, and they successfully selected him at pick #9.

Q: What were the consequences of the Bears drafting Cade McNown in 1999?

Drafting Cade McNown in 1999 set the franchise back significantly, as the author believes they missed out on better players like Donovan McNabb and Champ Bailey.

Q: How did the Bears' 2003 draft picks turn out?

In 2003, the Bears drafted Michael Haynes and Rex Grossman; while Haynes was a disappointment, Grossman showed potential before injuries hindered his career.

GREEN BAY, WI - NOVEMBER 04: Shea McClellin #99 of the Chicago Bears rushes against David Bakhtiari #69 of the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on November 4, 2013 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Bears defeated the Packers 27-20. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) | Getty Images Hello, Chicago Bears Fans! So let me set the scene for our discussion. I have been watching NFL Drafts since the early 1990s, mocking draft scenarios and rooting for player X or Y to drop to the Bears at our pick. I cannot tell you how often I have rooted for a player to drop to us, and they did, and I prematurely celebrated, only to have the Bears draft a player I had not even heard of. It has happened so many times I cannot count them. But let me cover a few of them – both the ones where the Bears drafted the player I wanted – and when they did, well, the opposite of that. **1991 – Chicago Bears draft Chris Zorich, DT Notre Dame, in the 2nd round, pick 49.** So, as you can probably guess, as a Chicago Bears fan, I am also a Notre Dame fan. And in the early 1990s, one of the most popular players on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish was defensive tackle Chris Zorich. In 1990, the Fighting Irish, under the direction of the famous coach Lou Holtz (who also once coached my home state team, the Arkansas Razorbacks), featured Chris Zorich on their defense, but suffered a loss in the Orange Bowl against Colorado. I very much wanted the Bears to draft Zorich and sure enough, in the 2nd round of the 1991 draft, the Bears took him. Unfortunately, that pick did not turn out. Zorich never lived up to the hype, and he is considered a draft bust to this day. **1995 – Chicago Bears draft Rashaan Salaam, RB, Colorado, in the 1st round, pick 21.** In 1995 I was very much looking for the Bears to revitalize their defense. I wanted the Bears to get an elite defender to return the Bears to some version of the 85 Bears defense under Buddy Ryan. My guy in 1995 was Derrick Brooks. Instead, the Bears took the running back out of Colorado, Rashaan Salaam. RS would have a few decent seasons, but his drug addiction complicated and undermined his production. Ultimately – Salaam was a bust. Meanwhile Derrick Brooks put up Hall of Fame statistics at linebacker on defense until his life was cut short in a tragic car accident. **1998 – Chicago Bears draft Curtis Enis, RB, Penn State, in the 1st round, pick 5.** In 1998, there was a star-studded set of prospects at the top of the round. My personal preference was for , the DB out of Michigan, but unfortunately, he went 4th overall to Oakland in the draft. After Woodson, I preferred the Bears to take Randy Moss. The Bears chose to take the running back out of Penn State, Curtis Enis. Enis would spend a few injury-plagued seasons before busting out of the NFL entirely. Randy Moss would go on to a career that ended in the Hall of Fame. Them’s the breaks. **1999 – Chicago Bears take Cade McNown, QB, UCLA, in the 1st round pick 12.** In 1999, I wanted the Bears to move up and take Chicago native Donovan McNabb, but unfortunately, he was taken 2nd overall by the Eagles. My next preference was and Daunte Culpepper – both players were available at pick #7 when the Bears picked. The Bears chose to trade out of pick 7 to pick 12. The Broncos picked Bailey at number 7, and the took Culpepper at the 11th pick overall. The Bears took McNown at 12 and he busted hard – setting the franchise back at least a decade. **2000 – Chicago Bears take Brian Urlacher, LB/DB, New Mexico in the 1st round at pick 9.** One of those rare instances where the Chicago Bears took the player I desperately wanted them to take. Going into the 2000 draft, I had identified Urlacher as my top choice at linebacker, although it was a projection since he had mostly played safety in college. When the Bears took him at pick #9, I leaped for joy. **2003 – Chicago Bears take Michael Haynes (DE Penn St) and (QB Florida) in the 1st round at picks 14 and 22, respectively.** I hated the Michael Haynes pick in 2003. He wasn’t particularly productive at Penn St. and my reaction when the Bears drafted him was “who?” I don’t recall who I wanted in that draft, but it certainly wasn’t Haynes. Greg Gabriel who was in the Bears front office at the time laments the Haynes pick because they didn’t learn about his lack of football character until it was too late. On the other hand, I was very happy when the Bears took Rex Grossman – I was convinced he would be a solid NFL QB. And perhaps he would have been if he had not injured his foot and ankle – limiting his ability to move in the pocket. **2005 – Chicago Bears take Cedric Benson, RB, University of Texas, in the 1st round at pick 4.** I did not want a running back in the 2005 NFL Draft because we had just signed and running back did not seem like a need. I liked Benson’s power-running profile, but I thought the Bears should go defense (I know – shocker). I really liked – both his playstyle and his nickname. Sadly, it was not to be. While Benson had some productive years in the NFL, most of them were not with the Chicago Bears. **2012 – Chicago Bears take Shea McClellin, LB/DE Boise St. in the 1st round at pick 19.** Another one of those – wait, who did we just pick first rounds – an experience I have had time and time again as a Chicago Bears fan (well, until Ben Johnson arrived). I recall rooting hard for to drop and sure enough, there he was when we were on the clock. I did a double-take when Shea McCellin’s name was called. Jones would go two picks later, and the rest is his history. McCellin played for awhile but is definitely a bust from a 1st round perspective. Jones would become one of the elite defensive ends in the game. One the other hand, in the 2nd round the Bears actually took the guy I wanted – Alshon Jeffrey out of South Carolina. And boy, did that turn out to be the right choice! **2017 – Chicago Bears take , QB, North Carolina, after trading up to pick 2 in the 1st round.** We all remember this one. It may seem like hindsight, but yes, I did want the Bears to take the gun slinger from Texas Tech, , and not Mitchell Trubisky. That said, I didn’t feel too strongly about it at the time. There was not a consensus among the evaluators on which QB was tops that year, and many had Trubisky slotted as the top QB available. I didn’t like that he had only played one year as the starter at North Carolina – as good as that year was statistically. Trubisky, of course, didn’t earn a second contract with the Bears, though he’s made a nice living for himself as a backup in the NFL. Patrick Mahomes…well, you know. **2018 – Chicago Bears take , ILB, Georgia, in the 1st round at pick 8.** I will briefly mention this one as Smith was my target in the 2018 draft. And he has gone on to become one of the better middle linebackers in football. **2021 – Chicago Bears take , QB, Ohio State, after trading up in the 1st round to pick 11.** Not going to lie, this one hurts the most, mostly because he was exactly the quarterback I wanted the Bears to take in that draft, and I was ecstatic when we drafted him. I still vividly remember the pick being announced by Carlos Nelson, “my Chicago Bears take…” and absolutely dancing around my house screaming “let’s go” after that pick. I thought he was going to be the next . Sadly, Justin has never been able to speed up his processing time, which has killed his productivity in the NFL. But we did have that season when he nearly broke the all-time rushing record for quarterbacks – and he would have done it, too, if he hadn’t missed a few games due to injury. **2023 – Chicago Bears trade back with the Eagles from pick 9 to pick 10 to take , OT .** I was all in on taking in this draft and, one of my worries about our trade of the #1 overall pick (though I did agree with Poles’ trade), was that we were costing us our chance at drafting Carter. When he fell to our pick at 9 due to character concerns and a bad pro day performance, I was rooting hard for the Bears to take him. Instead, we traded back with the Eagles, who did take Carter, and we took Wright instead. To say I was pained to see Carter go at our original pick, and then we took an offensive tackle many had projected would go late in the first round, would be an understatement. Happily, this is one where I ended up, I think, wrong. The Bears filled a desperate need on their offensive line, and Wright is regularly in the Pro Bowl conversation. Meanwhile, Carter’s talent and production are obvious; however, those character problems have still troubled him, and there was some talk that the Eagles might want to move on from him. Ryan Poles and the Bears got this one right. **2024 – Chicago Bears take at #1 overall and at pick 9 overall.** The Bears and I were on the same page for both of those picks. I, like Poles, was rooting hard for Odunze to drop to us at 9. The pre-draft mocks mostly had Odunze gone before our pick. When he dropped to 9 – and the Bears actually took him – I leaped for joy! Odunze has flashed ability, but injuries seemed to bother him last season. Let’s hope I’ll be talking about this one positively in the years to come. **2026 – Chicago Bears take Dillon Thineman, S, Oregon, at pick 25 in the 1st round.** I probably did hundreds of mock drafts using the PFF simulator this season. For the past four months, Dillon Thineman was available at pick 25 pretty much zero percent of the time. Particularly when he posted that amazing 40 time at the NFL Combine, Thineman was consistently gone somewhere between picks 12 and 18 in every mock draft. The professional draft experts also rarely had Thineman dropping to the Bears’ pick, although a few did have the Bears taking him. As I watched pick after pick go without Thineman being taken – the chance we would have a shot at him went up and I started to hope. But as we sat there on the clock, I had that old feeling – was I going to yet again root hard for a player to be at our pick, and then he is, but we take someone who I haven’t heard of or who is a major reach? Was it going to be Shea Mcllelin all over again? Nope! My son and I jumped around the house in celebration when Dillon Thineman’s name was called. It was a great feeling! In the Poles era, it has seemed to me that he has made picks more in line with what I have hoped. And I certainly hope that trend continues! ***What was your biggest draft disappointment for the Chicago Bears? What player did they take that you rooted hard would be a Chicago Bear? Did it work out? Tell us in the comments below!***