Daniel Jeremiah’s first 2026 NFL mock draft lacks a key defensive position, while forcing the Bears into a need at pick No. 25
Jeremiah has the Chicago Bears addressing a critical position of need but not one many might expect in the first-round.
To many, the unofficial official start of draft season is the start of Senior Bowl week. To some others, the start of draft season is when NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah releases his first mock draft of the offseason. Whatever you believe to be the start, both of those things happened on Monday.
The NFL world is heading down to Mobile, Alabama over the next few days to get an in-person look at over 100 top prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft. In the meantime, Jeremiah kicked off the week by posting his first mock draft for how he sees the first 32 selections going down.
For the Chicago Bears side of things, we broke down our Top-6 prospects to watch at the Senior Bowl this morning, now let’s dive into Jeremiah’s mock draft and all the takeaways from it.
Daniel Jeremiah has Bears selecting Dillon Thieneman with the 25th overall pick
Safety in the first round? That’s right and it’s certainly a possibility Bears fans should start considering leading up to April’s draft. Right now, the Bears have – checks notes – zero safeties under contract for the 2026 season. Now, the Bears obviously will address that position in the coming weeks and made All-Pro Kevin Byard a clear priority based on general manager Ryan Poles’ comments.
“I think that Kevin is a special player,” Poles explained. “I have no problem saying that that is a player that we would like to have back. But, again, when you add the other safeties into that mix, and all of the other decisions that we have across the roster, cap restraints, things like that, it will be a challenge. But, that’s part of what we do.”
The Bears will look to free agency first to address the position, even if Byard is re-signed. Chicago will likely get priced out of Jaquan Brisker but other options are still out there on the open market. If Chicago leaves free agency without two starting safeties, then drafting one early will be a priority.
That’s where a prospect like Dillon Thieneman out of Oregon comes into play. It’s also notable that Thieneman wasn’t even the first, or second, true safety selected in his mock. Jeremiah had Caleb Downs off the board at 11 (Dolphins) and Emmanuel McNeil-Warren off the board at 18 (Vikings).
With that kind of run at the position, it’d make sense to see the Bears strike early on a safety. The position value for an elite safety has never been higher and it’s a clear position of need. Thieneman would give Dennis Allen a versatile defender that could play either safety position and his skillset warrants first-round attention.
Lack of DTs in Jeremiah’s first mock draft is notable for the Bears
Many, including myself, have predicted the Bears will address the defensive line with the 25th overall pick, especially with one of the top interior defensive linemen in the class. However, Jeremiah only had two interior defensive linemen in his first 32 selections: Lee Hunter (Chargers, 22nd) and Peter Woods (Broncos, 30th).
There was no sign of Caleb Banks, A’Mauri Washington, or Kayden McDonald in this mock draft, which to me is surprising. But, Jeremiah is one of the best in the business and his words carry some weight with these kind of things.
Depending on the moves made in free agency, landing a starting-caliber safety along with an upgrade on the interior of the defensive line is going to be the ideal outcome for Chicago. If it means reaching on a top safety in the first-round and banking on a top defensive tackle falling, so beat it. And it’s worth noting it’s only late January. A lot can change over the next three months.
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