2026 Team Previews: Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears 2026 Preview
All ADP data is courtesy of Fantasy Pros.
** = target in drafts at this ADP
Drafted Everywhere
Colston Loveland, TE (ADP: 41, TE3): The Bears are a fascinating team to break down, because I am buying in on this offense overall, and I like a lot of the players in it, but the ADP and order that they’re drafted seems out of whack to me. Loveland being the first Bear off the board is the best example. Loveland is an impressive weapon in the Chicago war arsenal, and he sure does have the potential to be a top-flight fantasy TE, but I can’t be convinced he did anything to justify an ADP this inflated.
Loveland had major spikes last season, and two of them came in Weeks 16 and 17 so maybe they won people some leagues, but the overall production – 58 receptions, 713 yards, six touchdowns – are a far cry from an early fourth-round pick in 12-team leagues. Understanding that Loveland was a rookie and that his second half improvements reflected growing comfort in an offense we all believe is explosive, here are some names Loveland is going directly ahead of: Zay Flowers, Tetairoa McMillan, Lamar Jackson, Cam Skattebo, Ladd McConkey. Flowers put up over 1,200 yards receiving last season, McMillan was a 1,000-yard receiver, and McConkey has an 1,100-yard season under his belt.
TE is a position where having an elite player makes a huge impact, and because of that, ADP can get crazy for some of them. But that value is typically gained when people spend mid to late round picks on a TE who elevates, a la Tucker Kraft on the Green Bay Packers. Paying this price for Loveland is pretty much paying for his ceiling unless you believe he’s going for 1,000+ yards and at least as many touchdowns as he scored last year (6) if not more. While I am bullish on Loveland’s talent, I see an extremely narrow path to justifying this ADP at all, let alone providing value. Very in on the player, and totally out on the price.
Luther Burden III, WR (ADP: 46, WR21): Burden, like Loveland, is a player whose talent excites me but I think has way too much helium. Burden can be an electric player, especially when unleashed in space, but he played in 15 games last year and produced 47 receptions, 652 yards and two touchdowns. D.J. Moore and his 85 targets leaving town is a big deal, but I am unclear on what everyone saw that takes Burden from a fringe FLEX player last season to a locked-in WR2.
Burden was pretty solid last year per Reception Perception. He hit 71.1% success vs. man coverage (65th percentile) and 80.4% vs. zone (65th percentile). He was a monster on digs (84.6% success), which is great except for the fact that Caleb Williams’ worst success rates were over the middle. Burden was also fed lots of short targets, which is wonderful for building up receptions and for letting him cook defenders in space, but he wasn’t trusted as much to sting teams downfield on posts, nines or corners. Those are the types of targets I’d like to see him receive, and then convert before I anoint him a WR2. Burden’s physical gifts are great enough that maybe I’ll look foolish for doubting him by season’s end, but I’m hunting for value always, and I don’t see how we can expect him to outperform this ADP. Unless it drops, you’re taking him and praying he justifies it.
D’Andre Swift, RB (ADP: 53, RB24): Swift is a player who, annually, people seem to begrudgingly add to their teams and then are happy they did. Film nerds hate him, fantasy managers are always trying to replace him, and yet there he is with over 1,200 total yards and a whole bunch of touchdowns at the end of the season.
Swift feels old, but he’s only 27, and he’s rushed for over 1,000 yards in two of the last three seasons while catching 30+ passes in each of his six NFL seasons for three different teams. He’s become a workhorse since leaving Detroit, logging 220+ carries in each of the last three seasons, and he has never scored fewer than six touchdowns. Swift is a good player, he always has been and he will be again. That’s why this ADP is just right. If he does his usual, he’ll be a low-end RB2, if you get some extra TDs like you did last season, he’ll be better than that and provide a little value, but the chances of him ascending into RB1 territory are near zero. Finally, a Chicago Bear who is being drafted just right.
**Rome Odunze, WR (ADP: 63, WR28): Odunze is going to be polarizing. He’s played two seasons, been banged up in both of them, and never gotten to 55 receptions or 750 yards. So while I was not in love with Burden’s ADP, how can I sit here and proclaim Odunze as a value? Simple, there are two reasons.
First, before getting hurt, Odunze was crushing it and making good on his immense promise. His full season numbers weren’t special, but before getting hurt Odunze had scored in four straight games to start the year and averaged five receptions, 74 yards and 1.3 touchdowns per game. That put him on pace across the full season for 85 catches, 1,258 yards and 21 touchdowns!! The touchdowns are obviously crazy, but the rest isn’t given Odunze’s pedigree, which takes me to the second reason.
Odunze was dominant last season, moreso than Burden, and stands to benefit just as much as Loveland or Burden from Moore’s vacated targets. Odunze’s an outside receiver, so his zone success (78.3%, 46th percentile) isn’t as good as Burden’s. But he cooked man coverage (76.1%, 85th percentile) and was completely unfazed by press which he demolished at an 80.6% clip (93rd percentile). And at this stage of his career, he’s still getting better. There are lots of dominant X receivers with middling to poor numbers vs. zone. Odunze’s are fine, and might improve, and those are the players who become Ja’Marr Chase/Justin Jefferson level options. Think I’m crazy? Odunze was drafted to be exactly that kind of player. Some injuries stunted his season, and he was inconsistent upon his return. He still has performed better than either Loveland or Burden, and it’s very confusing why he’s being drafted after them. No complaints here though, thanks for the value.
Caleb Williams, QB (ADP: 83, QB7): We arrive at the architect of all of this, Caleb Williams. His first season under Ben Johnson was both frustrating and tantalizing. Given Johnson’s track record, and Williams’ immense talent, I think it’s fair to expect big things. Williams’ numbers ticked up nicely under Johnson; on basically the same amount of attempts Williams threw for 401 more yards, seven more touchdowns, and only added one more interception. He also increased his completed air yards per completion from 4.8 to 6.4, and, crucially, took 44 less sacks. Not a typo.
Williams is now in Year 2 of this superior offensive scheme, with Odunze raring for a Year 3 breakout, and Burden and Loveland ready to take steps forward. He’s also an underrated rushing option for fantasy. Even though he’s more of a scrambler in the mold of Patrick Mahomes vs. a designed rusher like Lamar Jackson or Jalen Hurts, yards are yards and he can pile them up when needed. The question now is will we see another leap forward as a passer, or is this kind of who Caleb is? If so, then this ADP makes perfect sense. If there’s more to him, he’ll be a value.
Charting on him shows he’s at his best throwing down the field to the middle and the left side. A 70.6% success rate in the deep middle is absurd, and lovely news for Odunze and his 82.1% success rate on posts. Williams’ pain points are over the middle, and shaky accuracy on the short stuff. That’s incredibly frustrating, but it’s more fixable than other issues, and if those shape up he becomes even more lethal when he takes his downfield strikes. It’s hard to be sure he’ll improve on these parts of his game, because these were the knocks when he was drafted, and many times players as gifted as he is don’t need to refine these parts of their game until much later. I’ll say this ADP is just about right, and I’d think he does return value on it, but it isn’t a slam dunk.
Kyle Monangai, RB (ADP: 88, RB33): Monangai’s a fun player to watch, and a hard-charger who could make waves if he had the starting role. But he doesn’t, and we addressed in D’Andre Swift’s portion why Monangai might find it hard to get the necessary volume to be a value on this ADP. It’s not early by any means, but it’s not a late flier either. I love the talent, but this is far too early to worry about handcuffs, which is essentially his role unless he absolutely annihilates Swift in training camp. Hopefully this ADP drops by Draft Day, but if not, he’s a good player I’ll unfortunately pass on more often than not.
Deep Cuts
Cole Kmet, TE (ADP: 336, TE46): Kmet once upon a time was a favored sleeper pick, but he’s declined sharply on the stat sheet since drawing 90 targets in a very nice 2023 season. With Loveland in place as the obvious TE1, Kmet has been reduced to a helpful blocker and useful pass catcher, especially in the red zone, but not a playable fantasy option. If an injury occurred to Loveland though, that might change quickly.