Bears GM Ryan Poles opens up on anxiety in first round of NFL draft

In the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears waited patiently as their turn with the No. 25 selection came up, as other teams were busy maneuvering around the board with trades. Coming into the draft, the Bears were widely expected to address their defense with their first round pick, whether it was on the defensive line or in the secondary, primarily at safety, which is where they went selecting Dillon Thieneman.

Many mock drafts leading up to the draft had expected Thieneman to be long gone before the Bears' selection in the first round came up, and if they wanted to go get him, a trade would be required. That was not the case, and general manager Ryan Poles recently spoke about the anxious moments that were there watching the board fall, ultimately giving Chicago one of the top players on their board, while also fulfilling a big need on their roster. "Yeah, there were," Poles said.

"I think I've talked about our simulator usage, some mocks – hundreds of mocks – to kind of hone in and give us different challenges as we're picking to go through and simulate the draft. It was 50/50 with him oftentimes. So, we weren't sure if he was going to make it.

I think there was a lot. I think it was 18 that seemed to be the spot that everyone said he was going to. We knew if we got past that, there was a good chance.