Speculation over who the Chicago Bears will select in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft has hit insane levels. The latest prospect to enter the chat is Michigan tight end Colston Loveland, who, until this week, had not been mentioned as a potential top-10 pick.
Now, he is.
And whether his late emergence is a classic NFL Draft smokescreen or a legitimate interest on behalf of the Bears, the reality is that pundits and Bears insiders have -- literally -- no idea what Chicago will do in the first round.
It's what makes the 2025 NFL draft extremely exciting. The drama and intrigue feel like they're at an all-time high, even if the player the Bears select at No. 10 overall won't have nearly the fanfare that greeted Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze after the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
That fanfare will be especially muted if the Chicago Bears stick to their offseason plan and stay in the trenches in the first round. An offensive tackle won't spark nearly as much excitement as a running back like Ashton Jeanty or a tight end like Tyler Warren, but with how the narrative around the first round is trending, the Bears may have no choice but to grab their left tackle of the future with the 10th pick.
Sports Illustrated NFL insider Albert Breer shared a key piece of draft intel in his latest MMQB column, suggesting that more than a quarter of this year's first-rounders could be offensive linemen.
"At tackle, I’d view LSU’s Will Campbell, Missouri’s Armand Membou and Texas’s Kelvin Banks Jr. as first-round locks," Breer wrote. "At guard, I see Alabama’s Tyler Booker and North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel that way. After that, I think Oregon OT Josh Conerly, Ohio State OT Josh Simmons, Ohio State G Donovan Jackson and Arizona G Jonah Savaiinaea have a great shot to land in the first round. And Georgia C Jared Wilson has an outside chance to make it 10 offensive linemen in the first 32 picks."
Breer attributed the likely first-round run on offensive linemen to the lack of depth after the top 10 offensive linemen in the 2025 NFL Draft, and suggested the league's general managers will try to copy the winning formula the Philadelphia Eagles have applied over the last few years.
All this means one thing: the Chicago Bears probably can't wait until the second round to level up at left tackle. If they roll the dice and choose luxury (a running back or tight end) over dependability (a meat-and-potatoes offensive lineman) in the first round, it could doom the rest of their draft class.
Consider this: would you rather have a draft class comprised of Ashton Jeanty and a project left tackle or one that includes Kelvin Banks Jr. and TreyVeon Henderson? Perhaps the answer isn't clear cut either way, but the odds the Bears can land a starting quality running back at the top of the second round are much higher than the odds of landing the same level of offensive tackle.
Fortunately, we'll find out in just a few days which route GM Ryan Poles values more when the Chicago Bears announce their first-round selection on April 24.
