What was the Bears' Best Draft Class?
Before, during, and after every draft, we hope that our team has picked a group of studs. Get some talented immediate starters in the higher rounds and a few steals in the later rounds. The draft goes all the way back to 1936, but it's not quite fair to line the 1940s 32 rounds of draft picks up against today's seven. But here are highlights of some of the Bears' greatest drafts.
Since 1936 the Bears have drafted 11 HOF players in the first round, including their first-ever draft pick, Joe Stydahar. The best first round for the Bear, to me, was the 1965 draft. The Bears had three first-round picks and took both Dick Butkus and Gayle Sayers with picks three and four.
In the 1975 draft, the Bears took Walter Payton with the number four pick and were able to nab longtime starters, Mike Hartenstine, in the 2nd round, and Doug Plank in round 12! Though they are not HOF players they were huge contributors to the team for years.
In 1980-1982 we added key pieces. First, our first two rounds of '80 were Otis Wilson at pick 19 and Matt Suhey at pick 46. Then the very next year we drafted Mike Singletary in the 2nd round after taking Keith Van Horn in the first and added Jeff Fischer in the 7th round. Then the big addition of 1982 was a first-round pick, Jim McMahon.
1983 is arguable the most talented draft class the Bears had. 1st Round: HOF Jimbo Covert and Willie Gault. 2nd round Mike Richardson, 3rd Dave Duerson, 4th Tom Thayer, and in the 8th getting Richard Dent and Mark Bortz. A combined 10 Pro Bowls between these gentlemen!
Since then we've had a scattering of HOF players, players who have been snubbed by the HOF, and reliable long-time starters/playmakers. Urlacher came in with Mike Brown in 2000. In '03 we drafted Grossman, Peanut, and Briggs in rounds 1, 2, and 3 respectively. And Matt Forte was drafted in the 2nd round of 2008 with Earl Bennet and Craig Steltz. After that draft, a lot of the guys are still playing and their stories haven't been fully written.
Maybe we will look back in another decade at our last two drafts and praise them like we are these past drafts. The 2020 drafting of Kmet, Johnson, Gipson, and Mooney. All four playing and contributing right away. The 2021 draft, getting Justin Fields, the tandem of tackles in Jenkins and Borom, and then hopefully finding a future stud or four out of Herbert, Newsome, Graham, and Tonga. All of them show promise and maybe this draft will be the one to tie them together for success.
| POLL | ||
26 AVRIL | 103 ANSWERS What was the Bears' Best Draft Class? What was the Bears greatest draft | ||
| 1965 | 23 | 22.3 % |
| 1975 | 20 | 19.4 % |
| 1983 | 45 | 43.7 % |
| OTHER | 15 | 14.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
