Fans were polled on the 2026 Bears draft class, and these results were from the week following the draft. We all know that it takes a couple of years to truly evaluate the class, but I wanted to take the temperature of how fans felt in the moment. A summary of the results is found below. Thank you to those who participated and those who took some time to read these results!

Disclaimer: I am going to use the phrase “Draft ‘experts’” several times here. I am not using quotations in a mocking way towards these people who work hard on their draft coverage, but more so because even people who do this for a living get plenty of things wrong, so I feel weird using expert without a slight qualification. Again, I am not mocking them and their work.

What emotion best describes your mood towards the 2026 Bears draft class?

Responses to this question were certainly spread out and diverse to a certain extent, although most responses were tempered by uncertainty. The most frequent response was “Content” at almost 30% of the responses. Not excited but also not too down on it. It seems like the consensus was that there were some picks that people really liked, and others that people questioned which seemed to balance each other out and left a lot of fans not feeling strongly one way or the other.

The next most cited feeling towards the draft was actually “Excited/fired up” (23.6%), which was higher than I would think based on reactions I saw on twitter that following week. Right behind that was “Uncertain” (22.2%), which is probably where I would fall because truthfully, I don’t know enough about these players to have a strong opinion one way or the other. I can see what the draft “Experts” say, but even they would admit they get things wrong.

About 18% of respondents stated they were “Conflicted”, which ties into what I stated earlier about some picks being revered, while others were lambasted. About 6% of fans left that weekend feeling “Frustrated/disappointed”. There was one fan who thought this was their best draft in forty years apparently! I would be curious to hear from that fan, but they could definitely be trolling.

What grade would you give the Bears draft, understanding that we really wont know how good it was for several years?

More than half (56.2%) of fans gave the Bears draft a grade of a B, which was by far the most popular response. About 22% gave the bears a “C”. A small percentage of fans found themselves at the extreme ends of the spectrum, with 8.2% giving them an “A”, and one respondent giving them an “F”. About 8% of fans felt that they were “truly unsure”, which again, is probably where I would land on this question.

What was your favorite draft choice of the Bears?

This question was certainly a blowout, and it’s not surprising for several reasons. 75% of fans stated that Dillon Thieneman was their favorite draft choice. For one, Dillon was their first-round pick, and I would think that a team’s first round pick is usually the one that fans focus on the most or is thought to have the most potential (certainly not always, I know). Also, I think most fans were not expecting Thieneman to be there for us in the first round.

The player that received the 2nd most votes for favorite pick was Center Logan Jones, getting about 10% of the votes. The rest of the players received 2-4% of votes each, and two fans noted that they did not like any of their picks.

I also asked fans to rank their top three picks from the draft. After Thieneman and Logan Jones, Jordan van den Berg received the most third place votes. Fans seem to think (and/or hope) that the Bears got a steal in the 6th round.

What was the pick you disliked the most?

Again, we cannot truly know good or bad these picks are for at least a couple years. That said, there were a couple of picks that fans questioned more than others. The most common response to this question came in at about 36% of the responses, and that was the Zavion Thomas pick. I think a lot of this comes from how his draft selection compared to a lot of what the “Experts” had to say, which I can understand to a certain extent. However, after last season, Ben Johnson has earned the benefit of the doubt from me, and I am assuming that he’s not signing off on any pick he doesn’t agree with. In fact, he very well could have pushed for Zavion and I’m assuming he did.

About 33% of the fans said they did not have a pick they truly disliked the most, which honestly surprised me. Maybe that has to do with what I just mentioned about trusting in Ben Johnson, or it could be several things. Either way, I was surprised. The third most cited response at about 20% of votes was the Sam Roush pick. I certainly questioned a pick at TE when it happened, but once again, I am going to trust Ben with these offensive players because that is what is going to get me through this offseason and he earned that benefit of the doubt last year. Each of the other draft picks received 1-2 votes each, making up a small percentage of responses.

Do you have any general takeaways that you want to share now that the draft is complete? 
Below are some quotes from fans about their general takeaways:

“The Bears thought the draft sucked and took players they thought could contribute immediately in small roles rather than trying to trade up for flawed linemen”

“To help you research I would say I lean very much towards I trust the staff”

“I was lukewarm on the draft class last year and by and large, we got solid contributors throughout. I am giving the team the benefit of the doubt. I also believe the upgrades to the back seven of the defense will help the D line when healthy”

“Edge is over rated”

“Filled needs and drafted quality backups with starter upside. D-Line wasn’t going to be fixed in a year and can be addressed properly next year with more money and the draft”

“Bear Down. 🐻⬇️”

“Overall faith in Ben Johnson is still high but the draft may prove a head scratcher as easily as it could prove very well thought out”

“FTP”

“If Ben is okay I’m okay”

“Reach reach reach”

“Bears brass knows a lot more about football and their vision for the team than any of us”

“I was initially upset at the Roush pick, but seeing how many tight ends were already off the board made it more palatable”

“Watching fans heavily criticize the Bears 2025 picks then seeing Poles 2025 draft class be rated the best in the league should have been enough for fans to have patience and some level of faith in Poles’ staff and coaches for the 2026 draft”

“Curious to see them play”

“Bears fans love to be dramatic”

“Poles and Johnson have too much confidence in their defensive line and their ability to coach and motivate them”

“I think the Bears GM and Scouting have completely different view and preference than the conses (media, fans, experts) when it comes to drafting and their draft board. Whether that is good or not will be reflected with the performance of the class in 2026”

“Avoided taking a position just to take it”

“I think the Bears made some decent picks, but I wish they had addressed the offensive line more aggressively”

“Trust in Ben”

“Feel like we did a good job finding potential starters throughout the draft”

“Bearsss”

“Same as everyone else: what happened to D-Line?”

These quotes from the fans show some mixed perspectives for sure, with some fans wondering about certain areas not being addressed, which is definitely understandable. With that said, a good majority of the responses here seemed to either be positive, or falling in the category of trusting Ben Johnson and the team’s evaluation, which is more so where I fall. I definitely am worried about our defensive line, but I do understand that our investments in the line last year have hampered our opportunity for growth this year. I also understand that the Bears are not going to reach just for a specific position, but I can understand both perspectives on this dilemma.

Thank you so much for all your participation, I truly appreciate it! And thank you to those who have been giving me some advice on this project, I see your feedback and am working on it, thank you so much!

Bear Down!