The Bears’ 5 biggest first-round draft busts
This edition of the High Five brims with pain.
As the 2024 NFL draft approaches Thursday, hopes are high the Bears will score A+ grades on their two picks at No. 1 overall (likely to be USC quarterback Caleb Williams) and No. 9.
But, as history shows, the Bears have a tendency to botch first-round selections. So, in “honor” of that gloomy record, this week’s High Five counts down the biggest first-round busts in team history.
First, a couple disclaimers. Despite brutal choices of offensive and defensive lineman through the years, they were selected too low to be considered among the biggest busts.
And going back many decades, the Bears selected Tom Harmon with the No. 1 overall pick in 1941, but his career was derailed by his service as a pilot during World War II. Similarly, Bob Williams was picked No. 2 overall in 1951 but was drafted into the Navy.
They understandably get a pass, and our gratitude for their service.
5. Kevin White, No. 7 in 2015
Highly touted out of West Virginia, White was the second receiver taken in 2015 after Amari Cooper was picked fourth overall.
From the moment he started training camp, White was stricken by injuries. He missed his entire rookie season, played four games in 2016 and suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the 2017 opener.
White caught only 25 passes with the Bears and didn’t do much better while trying to catch on with San Francisco and New Orleans.
4. Cedric Benson, No. 4 in 2005
Although the star running back out of Texas was a member of the Bears during their run to Super Bowl XLI, Benson’s career with the team was a major disappointment.
Benson held out for a month at the start of his rookie season, immediately putting him on the wrong foot. In three seasons with the Bears, he never rushed for more than 700 yards while coach Lovie Smith sought better options with Thomas Jones and others.
Benson revived his career behind three straight 1,000-yard seasons with the Bengals, and played his final season with the Packers in 2012.
Benson died in a motorcycle accident in 2019.
3. Curtis Enis, No. 5 in 1998
Like Benson, Enis held out at the start of his rookie year. Like White, he was hounded by injury trouble in his three NFL seasons after a nice college career at Penn State.
After Enis rushed for 916 yards and 3 touchdowns in his second season in 1999, James Allen replaced Enis, who moved to fullback. A degenerative condition in his knee force Enis to retire after managing only 36 carries in 2000.
2. Bob Fenimore, No. 1 in 1947
We’re going in the way back machine for this one, but Fenimore stands out because he was a rare No. 1 overall pick for the Bears.
After finishing third in the Heisman Award voting, Fenimore’s final season at Oklahoma A&M (Oklahoma State) was ruined by injuries. Despite the risk, George Halas and the Bears picked him first.
Fenimore played 10 games as a rookie with the Bears, his only NFL season, rushing for 189 yards and a touchdown on 53 carries.
1. Mitch Trubisky, No. 2 in 2017
Call it recency bias, but Ryan Pace’s selection of Trubisky earns the top spot for multiple reasons.
Not only was the pick a huge setback for the franchise, but Ryan Pace actually traded up one spot to nab the North Carolina quarterback. In addition to swapping first-rounders with San Francisco, the Bears surrendered two third-round picks and a fourth-rounder.
Considering Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes was the second quarterback selected eight spots later, the pick of Trubisky will haunt the Bears until they find their own franchise quarterback.
The Bears let Trubisky go after the 2020 season, and he spent the last three years as a backup in Buffalo and Pittsburgh. Last month, he re-signed with the Bills.