After the 2024 NFL Draft, several of us at Windy City Gridiron participated in a 21st-century all-Chicago Bears fantasy draft.
What does that mean? Well, eight of our staffers got together in a randomized snake draft to build out a roster in all three phases consisting only of Bears players from the year 2000 to the present. Some people will argue the 21st century starts in 2001, but they can go to hell. It was a fun exercise, both in trying to build a complete roster and in going down memory lane.
Back in 2018, we ran a similar exercise with every player to ever suit up for the Bears. This time, though, our time constraint allowed us to really get into the weeds and get creative — or in some cases, depressing — with our selections.
This process consisted of 26 rounds, with 12 people on offense, 12 people on defense, and two special teamers. This allowed us some flexibility for our 11th man on the field, and consolidating kicker and punter into one position prevented any of us from having to select players who only played a game or two for the Bears.
If you’ve read enough Windy City Gridiron pieces, you know by now that I was up against some stiff competition when it came to drafting value over name recognition. I decided to have fun with it, going for players who excelled in the following areas:
- Years spent with the Chicago Bears
- Career and season accomplishments, such as Hall of Famers, Pro Bowls, All-Pro team appearances, Rookie of the Year, Scoring titles, and other accolades
- A touch of personal favoritism
The first factor, longevity, is important because it would be too easy to grab a player like Orlando Pace and say, “Well, he’s a Hall of Famer, who also played for the Bears, we’ll count that.” I will always appreciate a player who, despite limited in-game appearances, showed up every day and was loyal to a team I follow so closely.
I tried to balance that with the second category, accolades, because, at the end of the day, we were trying to draft the best team full of Chicago Bears from the 21st Century. We need talent, not just recognizable names.
Lastly, this draft was littered with difficult choices. We could either take the best player available, or a player who didn’t, say, blow a big game against the Packers, and I leaned toward some personal favorites of mine during those times. After all, some notable players went completely undrafted in this, not just Chris Conte.
Here is the best 21st Century Bears team I could snag: Special Teamers and Special Players
Offense:
Quarterback: Brian Hoyer (Round 25)
Please remember we only did 26 rounds of this draft. I was the last to draft a quarterback, because of the exact reasons you see on every national-TV Bears game. They’ve chugged through quarterbacks like a frat boy chugs beer after a formal. Jay Cutler went #1 overall, and Caleb Williams also went in the first round of our eight-team draft, so I determined there were at least six other Bears quarterbacks worth taking, each one with as many flaws as the other five, and I could put this one off until the end.
Hoyer filled in for an injured Cutler in 2016, and topped 300 yards through the air in his first three straight games. Cutler was really struggling to retain his status as the Bears’ franchise quarterback by then, and Hoyer totally showed him up. Then he broke his arm, and in my opinion his injury will always be a big what-if scenario. If he continued his terrific play, would Cutty have kept his job?
Running Back: Anthony Thomas (Round 7), Michael Bush (Round 24)
Similar to the quarterback dilemma, which led to me putting off drafting one until it became a pressing need, this draft saw Matt Forte go #7 overall. Once he was gone, I waited for the rest of the WCG team to start their run on the next handful of running backs.
Anthony Thomas won the offensive rookie of the year award in 2001, rushing for 1,183 yards and 7 touchdowns. He beat out one of the greatest of all time for that award, LaDainian Tomlinson, and had a few more solid years rushing for the Bears. He was a lead back for the 2001 Bears team that went 13-3. His career fizzled out later, as Thomas Jones eventually took his job, but I had to have him on my team for his prestigious award.
Michael Bush felt like a steal in the 23rd round. Any football team needs multiple running backs, and Bush was an excellent complement to Matt Forte in 2012. He totaled nine touchdowns in his short two-year Bears career, and I think a running back room with Thomas and Bush can stack up against any in this group.
Wide Receiver: Johnny Knox (Round 8), Dez White (Round 20), Josh Bellamy (Round 22)
By the time the eighth round came around, I was loaded up on special teams and defense, but I needed some offensive production. Johnny Knox fit the bill. A terrible injury cut his career way short, but in the three years he played for the Bears, he had over 2,200 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. He was a Pro Bowler as a rookie in 2009, and an easy selection as my WR1.
Dez White was a talented receiver for the Bears in the early 2000s, starting 31 games over four seasons and averaging 556 receiving yards per year from 2001-2003. While Marty Booker may be the name most remember from those days, White was crucial in that 2001 season. Despite the inconsistencies at quarterback, he earned his stripes and is worth a WR2 spot.
Bellamy was with the Bears from 2014-2018, quite a long time for a player who started off buried on the depth chart. Most of his playing time came in 2017, when receivers Kevin White and Cam Meredith both finished the year on IR, and Bellamy was called up for 7 starts. He caught 376 yards that year, and as far as late-round picks go, I’ll gladly take him as my WR3.
Tight End: Jimmy Graham (Round 15)
Graham wasn’t with the Bears for a long time, but his mentoring of Cole Kmet cannot be understated. A former NCAA basketball player at Miami, Graham had his best success in the early 2010s with the Saints. He was older and less of a consistent threat when he signed with the Bears in 2020, but still was one of the better tight ends in football at the time.
In two years with the Bears, he caught 11 touchdowns through 31 games played. After I selected him in this draft, I watched names like Trey Burton and Kellen Davis get selected, and knew I made the right choice picking up the go-up-and-get-the-damn-ball tight end.
Offensive Line: LT Larry Borom (Round 21), LG Josh Beekman (Round 26), C Olin Kreutz (Round 2), RG Terrence Metcalf (Round 17), RT Fred Miller (Round 13)
While my offensive line ended up a little top-heavy, nobody can deny that Kreutz is the best Bears’ offensive lineman of the 21st century. In my opinion, he’s deserving of a Hall of Fame induction that will probably take forever (see also: Steve McMichael).
He was with the Bears for almost half of the years considered in this draft (2001-present), and was a six-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection. In 2006, he was first-team All Pro, confirming his spot as the best center in all of football. He was a consistent and talented leader for a Bears team that made it to the Super Bowl, and if you’re going to be top-heavy at a position like offensive line, then you might as well put the very best at the top.
To round out the offensive line, I took Fred Miller in the middle of the draft. This is just for fun, but maybe still don’t tell Kreutz about that one. We don’t need another broken jaw incident. Miller started for the Bears in all games but two from 2005-2007. Metcalf was also a selection made in the middle of the draft, when I realized I had talent but desperately needed to fill the trenches. He too was on the 2006-07 Bears team that won the NFC Championship.
Borom is a solid swing tackle currently on the Bears, and when all the true left tackles were gone early (as they should be), I kept Borom in my back pocket and was glad he was there in 21st round. Beekman was my last draft choice, but he started all 16 games for the Bears in 2008 before they moved on from him in favor of switching Chris Williams to guard. Beekman and Borom are serviceable enough that they shouldn’t move the needle much, allowing the right side of my line to open up holes for the running game.
Defense:
Defensive End: Robert Quinn (Round 6), Jared Allen (Round 14)
As we approached the end of what could be called the “early” rounds, I realized I had a lot of decorated Bears players, but I really needed one who could get after a quarterback. Who better than a player who broke Richard Dent’s single-season sack record? Quinn was only with the Bears for 2.5 seasons, signing in Free Agency in 2020 before netting the Bears a fourth-round pick when they traded him to Philadelphia in 2022. But in those seasons with the Bears, he totaled 21.5 sacks, 7 forced fumbles, and 77 total tackles over 36 starts. He was a true Monster of the Midway.
Allen, too, was with the Bears for a rather short time, but I’m going to pretend that we can run a 4-3 defense and keep him at the defensive end position where he was so dominant. In his one full season with the Bears, Allen had 56 total tackles, 5.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 fumbles recovered. It was a solid year for the future Hall of Famer, even though his best years were before his time with the Bears.
Defensive Tackle: Eddie Goldman (Round 10), Bilal Nichols (Round 16)
Goldman was a premier nose tackle in a defensive box that was among the best in the entire NFL for the late 2010s. He started all 16 games for the 2018 Bears who went 12-4 with a playoff berth, and he was one of the best run-stuffing defensive tackles the Bears have ever had. I was surprised he was there in the 10th round, but I’ll gladly plug up the middle with Goldman.
Nichols played alongside Goldman for three seasons (excluding 2020 when Goldman opted out during the pandemic), and was a rotational piece on the defensive line. He could back up multiple positions, and actually started quite a few in Goldman’s absence in 2020. By the end of his four-year rookie contract, he was a starting-caliber defensive lineman, and he’s a great example of player development in the NFL. For his Bears’ career, he totaled 146 tackles over four years, good for 36.5 per year. Football is won and lost in the trenches, as they say, and I’ll take a swiss army knife to complete my defensive line.
Linebacker: Roquan Smith (Round 3), Hunter Hillenmeyer (Round 9)
It was no surprise to see linebackers go so quickly in this draft. Urlacher, Mack, and Briggs were all gone in the first 12 picks, and for good reason. The Bears, while known for their defense in general, sure know how to put a star linebacker on the field. Roquan Smith was no exception. He was a two-time 2nd team All-Pro during his time with the Bears, and was known for being everywhere on the field. He nay prove to be on-track for a Hall of Fame career, and the Bears had over four years of killer play from him.
Hillenmeyer was an underappreciated linebacker for the Bears in the 2000s. While never tagged with league awards or national recognition, he was with the Bears for 8 seasons and started 13 games for the 2006 squad that made it to the Super Bowl. Between 2004-2009, he averaged 64 total tackles per season. Urlacher and Briggs get all the love from those days, and rightfully so, but Hillenmeyer is a solid value pick in round 9 and putting him alongside Roquan Smith gives me a linebacker crew to compete with anybody.
Cornerback: Corey Graham (Round 11), Sherrick McManis (Round 18), Buster Skrine (Round 19)
Defensive back is one of those positions coaches will tell you that you can’t have too many players. In today’s NFL, you have to field multiple defensive sets with 5+ DBs the cover a wide field. Graham was with the Bears for 5 seasons, including the 2010 season where they made a deep playoff run, and 2011 where he was named to the Pro Bowl. That on top of his All-Rookie Team selection in 2007 gives him enough hardware that a round 11 selection was a steal.
McManis, on the other hand, was with the Bears forever and a day. Although most of his playing time was on special teams, he did start 4 games in 2015 and was occassionally used as a depth piece at defensive back. Nine seasons with the Bears earns him a spot on my roster anyday.
Skrine was a talented nickel back who the Bears picked up after Bryce Callahan followed Vic Fangio to Denver. Skrine had some flashes, and averaged 57 total tackles per year in his two seasons with the Bears. The three of them combined makes a deep, albeit vanilla cornerback room.
Safety: Eddie Jackson (Round 5), Major Wright (Round 12), Harold Jones-Quartey (Round 24)
Recency bias may diminish the value of Eddie Jackson, which is probably why he was sitting there in the 5th round of this draft, but his 2018 season was one for the ages. 1st-Team All Pro, a Pro Bowl selection, and a league-leading (tied) pair of pick-sixes made Jackson must-see TV as he helped lead the Bears to a division title. He was named to a second Pro Bowl in 2019, and was a starter for the Bears for 7 seasons. He’s also listed as one of the top-100 Bears of all time on the official Bears website.
Wright also started multiple seasons for the Bears, and had three defensive touchdowns between 2011-2013. When a defense can score, keeping the offense fresh on the sideline, it makes it that much harder for the other team to beat you.
Jones-Quartey started 16 games for the Bears through two seasons from 2015-2016, and in that second season he had 78 total tackles. Those were dark years for the Bears, as they were in tear-down mode and trying to field warm bodies on the field as they said goodbye to some aging superstars. Jones-Quartey provides depth and dime package use for a position, like corner, where you need quantity.
Special Teams:
Kicker: Robbie Gould (Round 4)
Why spend such a high pick on a kicker, you ask? Well, when the kicker in question scored more points than Sweetness himself, it’s really a no-brainer. Gould spent 11 seasons in Chicago, earning a Pro Bowl selection in 2006 and setting the record for most points scored in Bears history. He was one of the most consistent kickers in the game, earning the nickname “Good is Gould” as he launched footballs through the uprights. Salary cap be damned, the Bears made a gigantic mistake cutting him in 2016. For our special teams leg, in which you could take a kicker or a punter, he’s in a league of his own for value.
Special Teams: Devin Hester (Round 1)
Drafting third overall, I watched as Jay Cutler and Brian Urlacher came off the board. That left plenty of options, but in truth there was only one: the Hall of Famer himself. Hester is the greatest return specialist in NFL history, and the Bears had him for a whopping 8 seasons. He holds a record which may never be broken: 20 total return touchdowns. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this year, and he’s easily one the greatest Bears of all time. Second perhaps only to Urlacher, he’s a top-2 Chicago Bear of the 21st Century.
Here is a complete shot of my roster:
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25466503/Bears_Roster.png "Salo’s 21st Century Bears team: Special Teamers and Special Players (1)")
Overall, my team earned 10 All-Pro selections, 15 Pro Bowls, 3 PFWA All-Rookie Team selections, and 1 Offensive Rookie of the Year, all during their time with the Bears. As you look around the rest of the squads in this fun little draft, you’ll find most teams have holes. I limited mine to very few, and put talent at all positions. I even filled a few holes with future Hall of Famers who despite a limited Bears career, were extremely talented and fun to watch.
