Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Nick Baumgardner: Bears are in '1st-world problems' tier heading into NFL Draft
16 Feb 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I don't think the process changes. You're going to identify the guys that fit what we want in our football team, which coach hit, and you just keep trying to acquire those players. We know what they look like. We know how they act. They know how to talk. We'll continue to do that.
I think that's part of the thing is, one, can you self-evaluate and be critical of yourself and your team to make sure that you know what you have in the building? And then can you just keep pounding away and stick into your process? You make tweaks, of course, but stick to the process of bringing in the right types of people.
You tell them, Mr. Poles. Let them know what a good draft class looks like because you can finally do that. It took a little while.
But we got there.
It's a ramp up. It's a ramp up. You need some experience. That is Ryan Poles talking about the draft process and building a team and what it takes and going out and getting the guys he likes. For more on that, we welcome in Nick Baumgardner.
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Chapter 2: How does the Bears' draft strategy reflect their team needs?
He's the senior writer and NFL draft analyst for The Athletic. He joins us on the Circa Sports Illinois hotline. Download the Circa Sports app today. Nick, joining us on Rahimi Harris and Grody Russell Dorsey in alongside Marshall Harris. And Nick, it's about that time, I guess, right? What number of mock draft are you on right now?
Um... Two or three? Two or three. I did the first three-rounder, so we're in the third-round area. So we're that deep into it now.
What's so great about this is that you're saying two or three, and I'm still thinking about one because the Bears were actually in the playoffs, and that extended our discussion of the actual football season.
I know. Back in the day, you guys have been looking at this stuff in like November, right? Like after Thanksgiving, it had been like, okay, what's draft looking like, right? But it's like I'm in Detroit, so I know that feeling where it's like it's a lot better to ā to have something else to think about maybe in January than what your team's going to draft.
But, hey, look, it's draft season for everybody now, so that's good. Good for us.
Yeah, you're thinking about depth and stuff like that now as opposed to, like, all right, where are all my starters going to come from? So here's my thing, Nick. As you're going through your draft prospects and ā trying to grade guys and see where different fits are for people who are now switching their brain over to, okay, combines coming draft is coming.
What's a theme that is big in this year's draft compared to let's say last year's draft.
Yeah, I think this year's draft is really unique in that the linebacker class is like for the first time in a while, it feels like there's more teams in the NFL that are more willing to lean into these hybrids and these special like unique athletes. And there's a lot of them this year. This is like this feels like the deepest linebacker group we've seen in quite some time.
The two guys at the top, Arville Reese and Sonny Stiles, both from Ohio State, both 6'4", 240. And both kind of similar, you know, guys. They can get all over the place. They can run. They can wear different hats up front. They can rush off the edge. The best case there might be like a Micah Parsons, right? And there's a lot of guys in this class like that as you go down the list.
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Chapter 3: What unique themes are emerging in this year's NFL draft?
Zion Young would be another guy down there from Mizzou. We can do a bunch of different stuff. But, you know, a lot of edges in this group. This is a solid edge class again, which is kind of a thing every year now.
Nick, you're talking about value. You're talking about the depth at some of these positions. And when you are in the range the Bears are in in the low 20s, I'm starting to get that trade back vibe. Is that something that many of those teams in the 20s, because of the depth with some of these positions, might do?
That's always, you know, it's always something that they're always on the look for.
Chapter 4: How does the depth of the linebacker class impact team decisions?
Like we just said, like if a team wants to mess around down there and trade up or trade out for Ty Simpson or like Chambliss was the one for me. Like if he was going to make this draft or he was going to be in this class, he was a guy that I thought would have been like Jackson Dart. A great example of sit there, bottom of the first, somebody comes up. and trades into that spot and takes him.
I don't know if they would do that for Garrett Nussmeier. I don't know if he's quite on that level. I think he might be a stretch. Maybe he has a great combine and changes people's minds. I don't know. But beyond that, I think that they're going to try, but I think it's tough.
The two things that I would look for, though, in terms of teams wanting to trade around, if some guys start falling, like if Jeremiah Love starts falling, Caleb Downs probably isn't going to fall too far. But if those guys start sliding, Kenyon Sadiq, the tight end, who's really special as well. that can kind of mess with things, right?
That can kind of mess with the board and change people's whatever. So that's when trades can kind of start happening in my mind. So it's possible, but I don't know how likely it is because that third quarterback is not really jumping off the page.
You mentioned safety, Caleb Downs. I don't think the Bears are going to get up high enough to get him. But they do have a need at that position. And I'm wondering, with the way the safety class looks this year, how far back can you go and still get a good safety? Because the Bears might be needing one, maybe multiple.
The Bears are in the first world problems group now because this is what you do. The Ravens have done this for so many years. You just wait because there are really good safeties and we never know where these guys are going to be drafted because people don't value it as much as they should, but Caleb Downs is no worse than the second best player in this draft.
I think he's the best player in the draft and we're talking about him as a guy that Could be there at like 10, you know, which is crazy to me. And then the same conversation with some of these other guys, too. But like but that to me, like the safety classes we're talking about McNeil Warren, the kid from Toledo, Dylan Theanaman, the kid from Oregon, the other two.
Both those guys, I think some teams will probably have them graded in their top 30. I think those guys are good enough. Those guys are big. They can play multiple safety spots. They can come up in the box and hit as well. But if they slide down the board, all of a sudden you're looking at, like, Nicky Minwari went off the board last year in the second round.
And I don't know if teams have learned their lesson, but, like, you know, one of these years Malachi Starks was the best safety in the draft a couple years ago, or last year I think it was, and went to the Ravens at the bottom of the first, right? So it's like One of these years, teams will learn their lesson, but I don't know when. You know, Brian Branch went into the second a couple years ago.
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