The Chicago Bears are not going to be the example given when looking at teams that consistently draft well and develop players. The hope is that will change in the coming years, but historically the team has not drafted particularly well. While it is always tough to hit on players later in the draft, your picks in the first round should be cornerstones for the franchise for the foreseeable future.
When looking at the last 10 first-round picks of the Bears, you need to go all the way back to 2013 as they did not have a first-round pick in 2019-20 due to the Khalil Mack trade and then again in 2022 due to the Justin Fields trade. Safe to say at this point the Mack trade was not a total miss, but the Fields one definitely was (more on that later).
Ranking players like this can be difficult when dealing with guys who were drafted very recently as you are looking at what they have done early in their career and also what their future can look like. On paper, the future looks bright in Chicago currently. Let's take a stab at ranking the Bears' last 10 first-round selections from worst to best.
10. Kevin White, WR, 2015 (7th Overall)
Any list involving busts the Bears have drafted should start with Kevin White. For what it's worth, not many people could have predicted the downfall of White's career after the 2014 year he had at West Virginia. He finished with 109 receptions for 1,447 yards and 10 touchdowns. If there was still any question on him being a top-10 pick, he silenced those at the combine.
At just under 6'3", White ran a blistering 4.35 40-yard dash cementing his value as a top pick in the draft. The Bears were in need of a wide receiver so selected him 7th overall. To say that everything was downhill after that would be an understatement. White racked up more injuries than receptions in his career with the Bears as he struggled to stay on the field and ever become acclimated to the NFL. The Bears did not pick up his 5th-year option and he then had minor stints with the Cardinals, 49ers, and Saints. He totaled 28 receptions for 397 yards in the NFL, never seeing the endzone.