Grading the 2025 Chicago Bears Draft Class

The Chicago Bears entered another vital draft, trying to return to relevance in the second year of the Caleb Williams era and the start of the Ben Johnson era. With OTAs in full swing, I thought it was high time to take a quick look back at the 2025 NFL Draft for the Bears after selecting eight new players (five offensive players, three defensive players). Here's how everything shook out in the three days at the NFL Draft for the Bears and my grades for each selection.

Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan (Round 1, Pick 10)

Grade: B+

With their golden ticket in Boise State running back Ahston Jeanty already gone at pick six to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Bears stood pat at No. 10 and took Michigan tight end Colston Loveland. Loveland seems to be the perfect complement to TE1 in Cole Kmet, with not only his ability to block, but also the fact that he is one of the smoothest route runners in the entire nation at the position. Despite being limited to just 10 games for the Wolverines, he still put up 56 catches for 582 yards and five touchdowns.

Pairing Loveland and Kmet together looks to be a dynamic pairing, with the Bears being able to run tons of two-tight-end sets and using them in a variety of ways. The potential seems to be off the charts with Loveland, who has received several comps to Johnson's former tight end in Detroit in Sam LaPorta. Not all of that is based simply on the fact that Johnson coached LaPorta and now has drafted a new tight end. You can look at the speed, the breaks out of his routes, and even the blocking to see that Loveland and LaPorta share a lot of similarities.

Whether he can reach that level will be the biggest question, and how his development will be affected with Kmet on the roster. The other aspect is that using a top-10 pick on your number two tight end may not be the best use of your assets. Not that this was the deepest tight end draft, but maybe drafting an edge rusher next to Montez Sweat would have been the preferable option in this scenario for a much more dire need than TE2.

Part of this reeks of arrogance from Ryan Poles, and some of it is justified this time (unlike the Tory Taylor pick in the fourth round). The Bears are in a much better position than they were a year ago, so this pick works better. Aside from that, this is a good pick from Poles and adds another weapon for Williams.

Luther Burden III, WR, Missouri (Round 2, Pick 39)

Grade: A+

If Burden was allowed to come out in 2024, he would have been up there with the rest of the wide receiver class that included Malik Nabers, Marvin Harrison Jr., Rome Odunze, and Brian Thomas Jr. He had a spectacular 2023 season for Mizzou. He snagged 86 passes for 1,212 yards, nine touchdowns, and averaged 14.1 yards per catch. The connection between him and Brady Cook was almost unbeatable, and Mizzou went 11-2 and finished 8th in the AP Poll.

Yet 2024 was a much different story, with his production falling off a cliff. In 2024, despite playing in one fewer game, he dropped to just 676 yards on 61 catches and six touchdowns. Yet, Cook had a hand injury that lingered from their 34-0 loss to Alabama in October, causing his numbers to drop dramatically from 2023. According to Rock M Nation, the offensive scheme changed quite a bit, going from more downfield routes for Burden to more short outs and screen passes. This is seen in the data, where his yards per route run dipped from 3.29 in 2023 to 2.32 in 2024. He also had seven drops during his junior year, converting to a 13.2% drop percentage.

Despite all of that, Burden is still a special talent in multiple ways. He slides in perfectly as a slot receiver, with over 85% of his snaps coming in the slot in 2024. That will 'slot' in perfectly with Rome Odunze and DJ Moore flanking him on the outside. He's also shown an ability to take handoffs out of the backfield, with 34 career carries for 234 yards and four touchdowns. Considering the Bears waited until the 7th round to draft a running back, I imagine Johnson has some packages in mind for Burden to start in the backfield or to take carries (outside of the fact that they were sniped for other options earlier in the draft).

It's hard to gauge whether the Bears will be getting Luther Burden from 2023 or 2024. It will come down to Caleb Williams staying healthy and Burden getting back to taking advantage of his YAC ability, which he did to great effect in 2023.

Ozzy Trapilo, OT, Boston College (Round 2, Pick 56)

Grade: A

This might be the most interesting pick of the entire Bears draft haul concerning the near future. Braxton Jones is still recovering from late-season ankle surgery after suffering a fractured fibula and missing the last two games of the regular season. Trapilo has been working out at left tackle and could be the starter by week one, depending on Jones' health and their performance in training camp and preseason. The Bears have been rotating Tapilo and last year's third-round pick Kiran Amegadjie throughout OTAs.

Football is in his blood, as his father Steve played at Boston College as a guard and then played five years with the New Orleans Saints. Everything seems to point to Trapilo being far better than his father at the professional level, with being able to use his massive frame in the run game and pass game to move defenders. That also becomes a double-edged sword, as due to his height at 6'8", defenders can get under his pads a lot easier and push him back. While he did play mostly right tackle during college, the Bears already have former first-round pick Darnell Wright at that spot. So, the Bears staff has correctly started playing him immediately at left tackle during the off-season so he can grow into it by the time the season starts. I don't see a ton of flaws in his game, and if the change in position works like the Bears think it can, the Bears will have two franchise tackles for the next 5-10 years.

Shemar Turner, DL, Texas A&M (Round 2, Pick 62)

Grade: B-

The first defensive player picked by the Bears was Texas A&M tackle Shemar Turner in the late second round. Turner fits the mold of what defensive coordinator Dennis Allen is looking for in an edge rusher: big and versatile. At 6'3" and 290 pounds, he can play both on the interior and the edge, helped by his quick first step, which helps him disrupt plays consistently.

Turner broke out in his junior year in 2023 with the Aggies, going for 11 TFLs and six sacks in 12 games (his previous two seasons, he combined for two sacks and two sacks). 2024 was a major step back, with only six TFLs and two sacks on the year. Part of that may be the fact that he suffered a stress fracture in pre-season camp, and he played the entire 12-game season on it. He even had to pull out of his Senior Bowl invitation because the bone never fully healed.

That will be a concern moving forward to see if that was just an off-year due to injury or whether that's the type of player he is. Overall, I think Turner is in a great position to learn and grow with Grady Jarrett and Montez Sweat as the veteran leaders on the D-Line.

Ruban Hyppolite II, LB, Maryland (Round 4, Pick 132)

Grade: D+

This is the pick for the Bears that came out of left field, and has the potential to be Poles' version of a Velus Jones Jr. type pick. Across the board, this pick has been panned as one of the worst of the draft and the worst for the Bears. He's been projected to be a career backup and didn't have the numbers in college to back up being selected this high. Hyppolite spent five seasons with the Terrapins and never recorded more than 66 tackles in a season, and he only recorded one interception in that time. This is purely a relative athletic score pick, which Poles just loves using when looking at players.

The hope I'm assuming the Bears' defensive staff have with him is that he can grow quickly and use his athleticism to reach his full potential. The problem is that he doesn't necessarily have the physicality to run through people as a traditional linebacker. As a special teamer, he can use his speed to build enough momentum to make tackles, and he does have good acceleration as well.

Not much else to say about this pick, but this one might be another big dud in the middle rounds for Poles. For his sake, I hope it isn't, because this is becoming an uncomfortable pattern.

Zah Frazier, CB, UTSA (Round 5, Pick 169)

Grade: B+

You can never have too many corners in the modern NFL, and Zah Frazier seems like an excellent depth piece behind Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, and Tyrique Stevenson. It was a slow start for his D1 career after playing at Southern Illinois and Coffeyville Community College from 2019-2021. He spent his first two years at UTSA with hardly any playing time. Finally, in 2024, it came together, with him leading the American conference with six interceptions in 12 games.

He has an exceptional frame for a cornerback, standing 6'3", 180 pounds, and has an arm length of 32 7/8". Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic talked with Bears co-director of player personnel, Trey Koziol, and he said the following about Frazier and his game:

"That to me is what jumped out on tape is if the ball is up in the air, it's one thing to have that frame and that length, it's another thing to be able to go up and play it like a wide receiver."

The main issue with Frazier isn't his play, but the fact that he will be a 25-year-old rookie in October, with limited time to improve in what will likely be a shorter NFL career compared to other rookies. Yet if given the chance, I could see Frazier as a big contributor for the Bears this season, especially if former second-round pick Tyrique Stevenson won't recover from his gaffe against the Washington Commanders last season.

Luke Newman, OG, Michigan State (Round 6, Pick 195)

Grade: C+

With the age of Joe Thuney and with Jonah Jackson coming off several injuries last year, grabbing a guy like Luke Newman in the 6th round as depth behind those two is a savvy pick by Poles and Co. With how many injuries the Bears suffered on their o-line, getting solid depth is always an important route to go to. He is incredibly durable, playing every single game the last four seasons for the Spartans. He does some NFL skills, with Lance Zierlein of NFL.com saying that he has good awareness of threats in protection and that he keeps base under him with controlled settle steps.

While he probably won't grow into a Pro Bowl lineman, I could see him being a journeyman backup/starter for 5-8 years in the league, which is pretty good for a sixth-round pick who needs a ton of work to improve. With all his apparent weaknesses, that's why I have the grade as a C+, considering there may have been more ready NFL talent in this range, whether it was a position of need or not.

Kyle Monangai, RB, Rutgers (Round 7, Pick 233)

Grade: B+

It finally took until the Bears' final pick for them to grab a running back in the draft, but they got Rutgers running back Kyle Monangai. Even with him playing five seasons at Rutgers, Monangai is only 22 years old and has only been a starter for the last two seasons. Once he earned the starting gig with the Scarlet Knights, he burst onto the scene and led the Big 10 in rushing yards with 1,262 yards and eight touchdowns.

Monangai followed up that season with another impressive season, racking up 1,279 yards on five yards per carry and 13 touchdowns. He is a very physical, downhill runner who loves to seek out contact. In watching his film from Rutgers' game against Ohio State in 2023, he isn't the fastest guy on the field, but he can get up to his top speed very quickly, breaking off some nice chunk runs while being the bellcow back for the Scarlet Knights. At least from that game, there is some concern with his vision, missing the hole and looking for cutback lanes, but when he does find a hole, he commits and gets to that spot quickly. Some of the vision concerns to me (at least when it comes to the game film) are more so with the talent level difference between Rutgers and Ohio State, and OSU selling out against the run with a lot of blitzes.

He also seems to have a good head on his shoulders, with Bears OC Declan Doyle already raving about his character during the rookie mini-camp in an article written by CBS News:

"The best thing about him that translates is that he's a consummate pro. The last couple days we've been able to meet with these guys, he is front and center. He's taking notes. He's attentive. You're asking a question of the group, he's asking," Doyle said, "and I think he's going to carry himself that way. I think guys that do handle themselves that way give themselves a great shot."

We'll see if he ends up making the 53-man roster, especially as a 7th-rounder, but he is already setting himself up for a great opportunity to make the team.

"My football career path has kind of been one of like, 'You know, he's a good player, but you know, just something off, like something — I don't think I'm going to put him on at the pedestal.' I was never always talked about in the top guys," he said. "It's not a new space, not a new environment for me. It's a role that I embrace and that I take on. I think it's what honestly has made me the player I am. I think it's given me the fuel, the motivation to be, you know, the running back I am."

Tell me your thoughts on how you think the Bears made out in the 2025 draft. You can find me on Twitter/X @JGrossReporter.