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2026 Mock Draft: Bears find their answer to Packers' Micah Parsons

Originally posted on Chicago Bears on SI
By Pete Martuneac | Last updated Aug 31, 2025 9:04 AM ET

When the Green Bay Packers acquired Micah Parsons in a blockbuster trade on Thursday, it signaled a new arms race in the NFC North over explosive pass rushers. The Lions have Aiden Hutchinson, the Vikings have Jonathan Greenard, the Packers now have Parsons, and the Bears, well, don't.

Simply put, the Bears can't afford to be this badly outgunned in their own division when it comes to getting after quarterbacks. They need an answer of their own, and the only way they can do that is by selecting one in the upcoming 2026 NFL draft. With Week 1 of the college football season drawing to a close, now is the perfect time for a way-too-early mock draft. In this 3-round mock, I have the Bears taking not just one but two swings at landing a dynamic pass rusher.

1.17 Keldric Faulk - Defensive End, Auburn

Big, strong, explosive, and fast, Faulk brings exactly the kind of juice that the Bears are currently missing from their pass rusher corps. He had a mini-breakout season in 2024, improving from just one sack as a freshman to seven, and is already on the board in 2025 with one sack against the Baylor Bears in Auburn's season opener.

Some Bears fans would probably push for left tackle as the team's biggest weakness, but defensive end is, in my opinion, a far greater need for the team. Selecting Faulkner here would be the most significant draft capital Chicago has invested in a pass rusher since they drafted Leonard Floyd in the 2016 NFL draft with the 9th overall pick.

2.49 Isaiah World - Offensive Tackle, Oregon

Chicago's race to find a starting left tackle in training camp this year became something of a circus, with as many as four players involved before the fan-favorite lost the position battle. Incumbent Braxton Jones is likely to start, but there's not much confidence in his long-term future. Enter Isaiah World.

World showed tremendous growth from his freshman season to 2024. He went from allowing two sacks, eleven hits, and twenty-one hurries to just one, two, and twelve, respectively. With over 1,700 snaps at left tackle already, including his 2025 season opener, World brings plenty of experience to the table and could be Chicago's franchise left tackle.

3.81 Gabe Jacas - Defensive End, Illinois

If you haven't already, you may want to consider hopping on the Jacas hype-train before it takes off at full speed. Like Faulk, he had a mini-breakout season in 2024, doubling his sack numbers from four to eight, and finishing with 74 total tackles. Now in 2025, he's already off to a hot start with two sacks and a forced fumble in Illinois' season opener against Western Illinois.

If the Bears can add both Jacas and Faulk to their pass rushing corps alongside Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo, they might actually have the chops in 2026 to terrorize NFC North quarterbacks.

This article first appeared on Chicago Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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