3 Worst Chicago Bears first-round picks over the past 15 years

The Chicago Bears own two first-round selections in the 2024 NFL Draft. Hope springs eternal when premium draft capital is present in abundance. General manager Ryan Poles possesses an opportunity to draft two blue-chip prospects in the first round. The anticipation for how their careers will unfold sent us down memory lane. We decided to confront some history-related ugly truths. The NFL draft is a crapshoot. We identified the Bears’ three worst first-round selections over the previous 15 drafts.

2017 | MITCH TRUBISKY | QB | NO. 2 OVERALL

There’s no sugarcoating it. The Bears are still attempting to recover from the Mitch Trubisky mistake, seeing that they’ll be drafting their second first-round quarterback in 2024 after selecting Trubisky in 2017. Trubisky never developed into the franchise quarterback the Bears envisioned he’d become. Adding insult to injury, three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes was the second quarterback off the board. Hindsight is 20-20, and few considered Mahomes to be the caliber of prospect Trubisky was. It still hurts.

2015 | KEVIN WHITE | WR | NO. 7 OVERALL

The Bears took a chance on a big-bodied receiver with rare physical abilities when they drafted Kevin White with the seventh pick in 2015. Recurring injuries and performance inconsistencies quickly derailed White’s career. The Bears declined White’s fifth-year option and both sides moved on at the conclusion of his four-year rookie deal. White never totaled 200 receiving yards in a single campaign. He’s an all-time Bears bust.

2012 | SHEA MCCLELLIN | DE | NO. 19 OVERALL

The Bears hoped they drafted a dominant defensive end to play opposite Julius Peppers when they selected Shea McClellin with the 19th selection in 2012. McClellin joined the Bears after dominating Mountain West competition at Boise State. The jump to the NFL proved too large for McClellin, who never recorded more than 4.0 sacks with the Bears.