{"id":454152,"date":"2026-02-04T21:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T21:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/454152\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T21:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T21:56:10","slug":"matt-miller-thinks-this-years-edge-rusher-class-is-ideal-for-bears-in-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/454152\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt Miller Thinks This Year\u2019s Edge Rusher Class Is Ideal For Bears In 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6e\">Whether they take an edge rusher in the first round or somewhere on Day 2, there\u2019s no doubt the Chicago Bears could use an impactful young edge to make a difference right away.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6h\">Fortunately, as many experts have pointed out, this happens to be an edge class with a lot of promising young talent on it. So even though the Bears might not get a blue-chip talent at the top of the draft, No. 25 overall will offer them some opportunities to get better at that spot.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6k\">Count ESPN\u2019s Matt Miller as one of those who think the Bears are in a great spot to improve at that crucial position.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6n\">\u201cThis is a great edge class. \u2026 I think the key is someone opposite Montez Sweat who has more of a power element to their game, someone that can be an edge-setter in the run game,\u201d Miller told Spiegel and Holmes <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/thescorechicago\/status\/2018804668244332966?s=46&amp;t=gCx9S_E8qDZIDU9H4tS5Zg\" rel=\"nofollow\">on 104.3 The Score<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re going to see a lot of edges [drafted] in that 20-32 [range]. Those picks, it\u2019s going to be a lot of edge players because that\u2019s where the strength of this class is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6q\">We\u2019ve certainly seen and heard plenty of good things about this year\u2019s edge crop from the Senior Bowl, and they\u2019ll be one of the primetime positions at the NFL Combine later this month, for sure.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6t\">As for his personal preference for who the Bears should target, Miller planted his flag on the Zion Young train <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/draft2026\/story\/_\/id\/47756543\/2026-nfl-mock-draft-two-rounds-64-picks-matt-miller-senior-bowl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">in his latest mock draft<\/a>, picking the Mizzou edge with the No. 25 overall pick and calling him a \u201clock\u201d as a top-40 player in the draft.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6w\">\u201cThe 6-foot-5, 262-pound Young is more of a three-down edge setter than a sudden pass rusher, but he uses a long-arm move to set up tackles and establish the corner in the run game. Young needs to develop a secondary pass-rush move with a better plan, but the traits are there for him to be a solid starter in a 4-3 defense,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6z\">Miller also added Clemson\u2019s T.J. Parker as a strong fit for the Bears but noted he had Parker coming off the board at No. 20 overall to the Cowboys.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"72\">Of course, the Bears also need to address their defensive tackle spot, with other analysts opting to go there instead of edge. But with all the talent on the defensive line in this draft, it\u2019s hard to go wrong. They just have to pick the guy they think is best and let it fly. Young\u2019s length, strength, and relentless pursuit should put him in the conversation for No. 25.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"75\">Plus, if he\u2019s anything like his old Mizzou teammate Luther Burden III, the Bears would be getting an absolute dawg.<\/p>\n<p>More Chicago Bears News:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/bears\/onsi\/news\/could-the-chicago-bears-really-be-about-to-move-to-indiana\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/bears\/onsi\/news\/the-bears-rams-playoff-game-just-made-nbc-sports-history\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Could The Chicago Bears REALLY Be About To Move To Indiana?<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/bears\/onsi\/news\/caleb-williams-is-reaching-icon-status-with-latest-honor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Caleb Williams Is Reaching Icon Status With Latest Honor<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/bears\/onsi\/news\/why-luther-burden-iii-was-ready-to-squabble-up-with-the-packers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Why Pass-Rusher Isn\u2019t The Most Important Priority For The Bears<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/bears\/onsi\/news\/people-at-the-senior-bowl-are-raving-about-ben-johnson-and-the-bears\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PFF Has Bears Landing Potential Draft Steal In Texas Tech\u2019s Lee Hunter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whether they take an edge rusher in the first round or somewhere on Day 2, there\u2019s no doubt&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454153,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-454152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}