Chicago Bears Are Much Higher On Two Undrafted Rookies Than We Thought

The Chicago Bears have high hopes for their 2025 draft class, and understandably so. Colston Loveland and Luther Burden look like they will be immediate contributors as rookies. Ozzy Trapilo and Shemar Turner have immense upside and can compete for starting jobs. Even cornerback Zah Frazier and running back Kyle Monangai earned lots of praise from the draft community. This has made it easy to overlook what the Bears did on the undrafted free agent market, especially with how few they actually signed. Where many teams added around 15-20 names, the Bears only brought in 10.

That led to speculation that the team doesn't have high hopes for many of them. They're just extra bodies for training camp. GM Ryan Poles was quick to dismiss that notion. Everybody gets an equal opportunity to show they belong. Undrafted free agents have taken advantage of this in Chicago before. Jack Sanborn proved it in 2022. Tyson Bagent proved it in 2023. Reddy Steward proved it last year. It appears the Bears have high hopes for two names in particular as they prepare for training camp this summer. Poles mentioned them on Kap & J-Hood for ESPN 1000.

The Chicago Bears knew they couldn't ignore safety.

While they may have wished to address the position in the draft, the board didn't go their way. Poles had to be prepared with alternatives, so the team made hard pushes to land Major Burns and Tysheem Johnson on the undrafted market. Burns is a giant 6'3 safety with 4.5 speed and a 37-inch vertical. He showed steady progress as an all-around defender in 2024, but never had eye-popping production. The Chicago Bears are betting on his upside. Johnson is the opposite. He had tremendous numbers at Oregon, including five interceptions over his past two seasons. His instincts and physicality stand out a lot. The problem is he's only 5'10 and 195 lbs. That is small for an NFL safety. He and Burns have lots to offer, though. Both will have a wide open opportunity to challenge for roster spots.