Chicago Bears’ Ideal 2026 Nfl Draft Fit Comes Into Focus Entering Divisional Round

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If nan Chicago Bears' tally to nan NFC Divisional Round has clarified thing astir nan roster, it's that nan protect statement remains a captious area for semipermanent improvement.

Pro Football Focus appears to agree, and successful its early look astatine perfect 2026 NFL draught fits for each roster, nan analytics powerhouse landed connected a sanction that makes a ton of consciousness for Chicago.

PFF identified Ohio State protect lineman Kayden McDonald arsenic nan Bears' "perfect" 2026 draught pick, which arsenic of now, is No. 25 overall.

The reasoning is straightforward... and concerning.

According to PFF, every Bears protect tackle vanished nan 2025 play pinch a 60.0 wide people aliases worse, underlining really overmuch room for betterment exists on nan interior.

MORE: Despite breakout 2025 season, Bears look agelong Super Bowl odds

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In contrast, McDonald was a ascendant unit for Ohio State. He led each interior defenders pinch a 91.2 PFF run-defense grade, and his 86.5 wide people was nan champion of each Power 4 protect linemen.

It's a floor plan that aligns perfectly pinch what nan Chicago Bears request moving forward, peculiarly pinch Dennis Allen's defense. As we've seen pinch nan Bears this year, without accordant disruption inside, Chicago's defense gets overmuch person to breaking.

McDonald's elite run-defense people straight fills that need. Defenders for illustration him, guys who tin triumph connected early downs, are invaluable, particularly arsenic nan NFL slow moves backmost to run-first systems. If he does, successful fact, go a Bear, he'd instantly raise nan level of Chicago's tally defense, particularly pinch Shemar Turner returning aft missing astir of his rookie play pinch a knee injury.

MORE: Chicago Bears' 2025 rookie people earns awesome ranking from ESPN

But make nary mistake, McDonald is much than a imaginable who conscionable patches a hole. He'd springiness nan Bears a young stud who's tin of increasing into an interior anchor.

For a Chicago Bears squad that's trying to move a miraculous playoff tally into Ryan Poles' extremity of sustained success, McDonald is precisely nan benignant of forward-looking prime that increases nan chances that that extremity becomes reality.