Zion Young
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 08: General Manager Ryan Poles of the Chicago Bears looks on prior to a game against the Tennessee Titans at Soldier Field on September 08, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
ESPN believes Zion Young is the perfect team fit for the Chicago Bears.
“After signing three defensive tackles in free agency, the Bears can look to the edges of their front by taking Young to play opposite Montez Sweat,” Matt Bowen wrote. “With his long frame, Young fits the profile of the defensive ends in coordinator Dennis Allen’s system. Young has the play strength and tackling range to set the edges versus the run game, which would upgrade a defense that allowed 5.0 yards per carry last season (fourth most in the NFL). Young also has the physical traits to develop as a speed-to-power pass rusher; he had 6.5 sacks and 43 pressures in 2025.”
However, there’s a major problem: the Bears can’t afford to use a first-round pick on a risky prospect like Young.
And ESPN’s Aaron Schatz gave a harsh claim regarding Young as this year’s “overrated edge rusher prospect.”
Bears Receive Bad News With Harsh Claim on Zion Young
Zion Young
GettyZion Young of the Missouri Tigers participates in a drill during the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine.
Schatz wrote on why Zion Young is an overrated edge rusher that teams should be aware of.
“Young comes out as the most likely to disappoint of the potential first-round prospects. His collegiate sack production was middling, with only 6.5 sacks in his senior year and just five combined sacks in three seasons before that. His 4.70-second 40 is also fairly average.”
ESPN used a metric called SackSEER, which is based on a statistical analysis of all edge rushers drafted in the years 1998-2021 and measures the following:
The edge rusher’s projected draft position. Specifically, the rankings from ESPN’s Scouts Inc.
An “explosion index” that measures the prospect’s scores in the 40-yard dash, the vertical leap and the broad jump in predraft workouts.
A metric called “SRAM,” which stands for sack rate as modified. SRAM measures the prospect’s per-game sack productivity, but with adjustments for factors such as early entry in the NFL draft and position switches during college.
The prospect’s college passes defensed per game.
Where Young failed to meet the mark, another prospect earned the title ‘the underrated edge rusher’: UCF’s Malachi Lawrence. Yet, the Bears should also be cautious with him, considering he did not put up big numbers in production with just seven sacks as a senior in 2025.
RAS.football
Zion Young is a DE prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 7.67 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 523 out of 2239 DE from 1987 to 2026. t.co/MFskIdshyG
Bears Should Wait to Draft a Pass Rusher in the Later Rounds
This year’s edge rusher draft class is relatively deep, and few prospects stand out towards the end of the first, where the Bears are selecting at pick 25.
Chicago should play the waiting game and have an edge rusher fall into their laps in the middle rounds. Young is a risky prospect, and even an “underrated” prospect like Lawrence doesn’t have the production the Bears would like to see.
I’ve mentioned in a previous article how an edge rusher like Michael Heldman could make sense for the Bears in the later rounds. He has proven production with 10.5 sacks, 16.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and 48 total tackles during his final year at Central Michigan. He also has the second-highest true pass rush win rate (40.4) in the draft.
At 6’4″ and 260 pounds, he also fits what Dennis Allen prefers with a bigger body on the edge, and the Bears would be able to address other areas of need as Heldman projects as a Day 3 selection.
It also seems like Chicago is content with what they have on the outside. Sweat, Austin Booker, Dayo Odeyingbo, and Shemar Turner, the Bears could end up skipping out on drafting an edge rusher entirely, which will surely rile up some fans, but it’s a possibility.
Either way, Zion Young feels like a risky pick for a team that needs proven production up front.