When the Minnesota Vikings passed on Dillon Thieneman at No. 18 to take Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks, I looked at the board and did the math. If he’s still there at 25, this is easy. And when Chicago’s pick came around, and he was, it was.

That simplicity is worth something. It hasn’t always been available in that building.

It wasn’t long ago that staying put was the wrong instinct in the Bears’ draft room.

Cast your mind back to the 2024 draft. Not the first pick, which was Caleb Williams at No. 1, the easiest call in the history of the franchise, and not even Rome Odunze at No. 9, which was a slam dunk when he fell there. Go further. Round 3, pick 75: Kiran Amegadjie, an offensive tackle project out of Yale with significant developmental questions. Round 4: Tory Taylor, a punter. The draft didn’t feel wrong at the top. It felt wrong as it went on, like the room ran out of conviction somewhere around Day 2 and started filling spots rather than solving problems.

That version of the Bears draft room is still recent enough to remember. Two years ago, not ten.

What’s happened since is worth acknowledging. Last year’s class (Loveland, Burden, Monangai, Trapilo) wasn’t just good. It was decisive. Four picks, four players who made sense, four players who contributed. It felt like a draft room that knew what it was doing and trusted itself to do it. Head Coach Ben Johnson’s fingerprints were all over it, and General Manager Ryan Poles deserves credit for building an environment where the obvious move actually gets made.

Last night felt like a continuation of that.

Dillon Thieneman Fell to 25, and the Bears Didn’t Overthink It

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