The Chicago Bears opened their 2026 rookie minicamp on Thursday at Halas Hall, bringing in 54 prospects for a two-day non-contact session that gave first-year players their initial taste of professional football.
The group included seven draft picks, 13 undrafted free agents, 24 rookie tryout invitees, five first-year pros, and five veteran tryout players. For most of them, walking into the Bears’ facility in Lake Forest, Illinois, marked a personal milestone years in the making — the moment youth football dreams became a professional reality.
Leading the draft class is safety Dillon Thieneman, the 25th overall pick out of Oregon, who described the experience as one he had been preparing for throughout his entire life. Thieneman, who transferred from Purdue to Oregon, noted that his experience navigating a college transfer helped him mentally prepare for the even bigger leap from college football to the NFL. Bears defensive backs coach Al Harris and safeties coach Matt Giordano — both former NFL players who participated in Super Bowls — have already made strong impressions on the rookie as mentors who understand the journey firsthand.
Second-round pick Logan Jones, a center from Iowa who spent six seasons under longtime Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, arrived at Halas Hall and found a familiarity in the culture. The professional habits drilled into him at Iowa — punctuality, attention to detail, preparation — aligned closely with what he encountered in his first days with the Bears. Jones takes over a spot on a veteran offensive line that already features Joe Thuney at left guard, Jonah Jackson at right guard, and Darnell Wright at right tackle. His competition for the starting center job will be intense, but Jones expressed enthusiasm about the challenge and about what the Bears are asking him to do in the middle of Ben Johnson’s offense.
Third-round tight end Sam Roush out of Stanford is diving into Johnson’s complex playbook with an emphasis on his identity as a run-blocker. Roush will learn behind veterans Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland and described Johnson’s high expectations as a motivating force. The Stanford product views his first weeks in the NFL as a listening-and-absorbing phase before he can contribute in meaningful ways.
Wide receiver Zavion Thomas, the Bears’ other third-round pick (No. 89 overall) out of LSU, described his early days at Halas Hall as a blessing. Thomas, who ran a 4.28-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine — one of the fastest times recorded there in recent memory — is expected to contribute primarily as a return specialist while competing for receiver snaps. He scored touchdowns in four different ways during his college career, including a 94-yard kickoff return and a 95-yard kickoff return, and brings the kind of explosive playmaking ability that Ben Johnson’s offense is designed to utilize.
Linebacker Keyshaun Elliott, a fifth-round pick from Arizona State, arrived from Richmond, Missouri, calling the experience of entering Halas Hall surreal. Elliott has positioned himself as a special-teams contributor who wants to be someone coaches can rely on in any situation.
The UDFA class features several intriguing names, including quarterback Miller Moss out of Louisville, who was rated as a fifth-round talent by some draft analysts but went undrafted and signed a deal with Chicago that included significant guaranteed money. Offensive lineman Caden Barnett out of Wyoming and defensive back Skyler Thomas out of Oregon State also received notable guaranteed contracts. Running back Coleman Bennett, a Kennesaw State product, carries a particularly meaningful story: his father, Donnell Bennett Jr., was a former NFL fullback for Kansas City and Washington, and Coleman was assigned the same jersey number — No. 30 — that his father wore three decades earlier.
The minicamp also includes 24 rookie tryout invitees competing for contracts, among them Joshua Kreutz, an offensive lineman from Illinois who carries significant football lineage. Wide receiver Scotty Miller, a veteran who has NFL experience, is among the veteran tryout players seeking to prove he still belongs on an NFL roster.
For South Carolina fans watching the Bears’ offseason with interest, the team’s long-running Palmetto State connection took a notable turn earlier this week. Defensive lineman Zacch Pickens — an Anderson, South Carolina native who starred at T.L. Hanna High School and spent four seasons with the South Carolina Gamecocks before the Bears selected him in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft — was claimed off waivers by the New York Giants on May 6 after the Kansas City Chiefs released him. Pickens totaled 44 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble across three NFL seasons, spending his first two years in Chicago before the Bears waived him in final roster cuts in August 2025. His path from Anderson to the NFL represents the kind of Gamecocks-to-Chicago pipeline that Upstate SC football fans have followed closely since the Bears first selected him with the 64th overall pick three years ago.
The 2026 minicamp arrives as the Bears continue building under head coach Ben Johnson, who took over the franchise for the 2026 season with a mandate to maximize second-year quarterback Caleb Williams. Johnson’s reputation as an offensive innovator — he spent several seasons as Detroit’s offensive coordinator before taking the Bears job — has generated genuine excitement in Chicago, and the rookie class reflects his philosophy of adding speed, versatility, and football intelligence at every level of the roster.
The two-day minicamp runs through Friday, May 9, with the NFL schedule release set for May 14. The Bears will then shift toward organized team activities as they prepare for a 2026 season that carries high expectations in the NFC North.
