The 2025 NFL Draft begins in less than a week, and the
Chicago Bears
will look to find impactful players who can help improve the roster now and in the future. Armed with seven picks in total, including No. 10 overall, general manager Ryan Poles will attempt to load up the roster with players at key positions as the
Bears
usher in a new era under head coach Ben Johnson.
As is always the case with the draft, not every pick will be a hit. Some players will come and go without making much of an impact, but others could leave a lasting legacy, whether they are multi-year Pro Bowl talents or simply quality starters.
Every draft class will not work out, and some picks will look worse than others.
After providing the best picks from each Bears draft class since 2015,
we’re now looking at the worst picks. Here are the players who stood out for all the wrong reasons.
2015: WR Kevin White
First round, pick No. 7
Happy 10-year anniversary to the Kevin White selection. Ryan Pace’s first draft pick as Bears general manager will forever be etched in infamy due to injuries and ineffectiveness that limited him to just 14 games as a Bear. No first-round wide receiver selected over the last 10 years has fewer career receiving yards than White.
2016: DB Deiondre’ Hall
Fourth round, pick No. 127
The Bears had a decent return in the 2016 NFL Draft, even if players like Leonard Floyd and Jonathan Bullard never became stars. Their first big miss came at the end of the fourth round with Deiondre’ Hall, a talented yet undisciplined player. Hall only lasted a couple of seasons in Chicago as he dealt with injuries, an arrest, and a suspension. Missing on a fourth-round pick isn’t the end of the world, but it’s tough knowing Dak Prescott was still on the board when Hall was selected.
2017: QB Mitchell Trubisky
First round, pick No. 2
Mitchell Trubisky is not the biggest bust of the 2017 NFL Draft for the Bears. That title goes to second-round tight end Adam Shaheen. He was still the worst pick when you consider all of the circumstances, though. Pace went rogue by not informing his staff of his draft plans to select Trubisky, then surrendered multiple picks to move up one spot for the inexperienced quarterback. Everyone knows the biggest mistake was passing up Patrick Mahomes and even Deshaun Watson, and though Trubisky put up decent numbers, the whole process to select him was flawed.
2018: WR Anthony Miller
Second round, pick No. 51
The receiver who looked like Steve Smith coming out of college, Anthony Miller had a hot start to his NFL career. Miller caught seven touchdowns as a rookie and was primed for a fruitful career in Chicago after the Bears traded up to select him. That didn’t last long. Miller fell out of favor due to practice habits and attitude problems and only played three seasons in a Bears uniform. To make matters worse, the Bears surrendered a future second-round pick to select him.
2019: WR Riley Ridley
Fourth round, pick No. 126
At the time, it seemed like the Bears got a steal when Riley Ridley was available in the fourth round. It turns out there were reasons teams passed on him. Ridley, the younger brother of Calvin Ridley, wasn’t fast enough and could never break through, spending two seasons on the bench. He never eclipsed more than 70 receiving yards in a single season and was out of the league following the 2020 season.
2021: WR Dazz Newsome
Sixth round, pick No. 221
The Bears swung big on Justin Fields and Teven Jenkins in the first and second rounds, respectively, and though they never panned out, they were at least adequate starters for a number of years. The entire draft class has managed to make it to the 2024 season, except for Dazz Newsome. The Bears took a flier on Newsome in the sixth round thanks to his blazing speed, but he couldn’t get out of his own way with drops on the field. Newsome lasted just one year and didn’t even make it to the final cuts of his second training camp.
2022: WR Velus Jones
Third round, pick No. 71
Ryan Poles hit on his first defensive draft pick that he made as general manager, but the same can’t be said on the offensive side. Velus Jones was a questionable pick at the time when it was made and only looks worse with age. The speedster was never a good fit at wide receiver, and he was a liability on special teams thanks to his muffs and fumbles. The Bears gave Jones every opportunity to succeed, even moving him to running back. It never worked, and he was off the team midway through his third season.
2023: DT Zacch Pickens
Third round, pick No. 61
The Bears double-dipped at defensive tackle when they selected Zacch Pickens shortly after drafting Gervon Dexter. While Dexter has developed into a quality NFL defensive lineman, Pickens has yet to make an impact. He struggled early on, and after suffering through injuries in Year 2, he found himself as a healthy scratch as the year went on. With just 1.5 sacks and two tackles for loss in his career, Pickens is in danger of losing his roster spot before entering his third season.
2024: OT Kiran Amegadjie
Third round, pick No. 76
The 2024 Bears draft class is just one year old, so it’s not completely fair to list someone as the worst pick with such a small sample size. That being said, Kiran Amegadjie stands out at the moment. Some may point to taking punter Tory Taylor in the fourth round, and while he hasn’t met expectations yet, he has been dependable and was a key factor in the win over the Los Angeles Rams. Amegadjie hasn’t done anything yet, though he was behind due to his rehab coming into training camp. This could look a lot different next year, but for now, Amegadjie is the worst pick from last year’s class.
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire:
The worst Bears draft pick from every year since 2015
