Ranking the Top 5 Chicago Bears First-Round Draft Picks..

Ranking the Top 5 Chicago Bears First-Round Draft Picks

BYMIKE THOMAS

PUBLISHED 4 HOURS AGO

The Chicago Bears have drafted several gridiron legends in the first round of the NFL draft over the years.

Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports

HIGHLIGHTS

 The Chicago Bears haven’t had great luck in the first round of the NFL draft in recent years but selected several future Hall of Famers in Round 1 in the past.

 The Bears drafted Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers with back-to-back first-round selections in 1965.

 Before he led Chicago to a Super Bowl win as a coach, Mike Ditka was a Pro Bowl tight end with the Bears.

The Chicago Bears haven’t struck big with a first-round NFL draft pick in quite some time.

Kyle Long (2013) and Kyle Fuller (2014) had their share of Pro Bowl seasons in Chicago. Roquan Smith (2018) and Greg Olsen (2007) had their biggest impact in the league with other teams. With the No. 1 overall pick in hand, the Bears hope to hit the jackpot with USC quarterback Caleb Williams, their likely selection in the 2024 NFL Draft.

While the Bears haven’t landed a Hall of Famer in Round 1 since 2000, they have had some serious success in earlier years, including in 1965 when they struck gold with a pair of elite stars that will forever be mentioned as some of the NFL’s best.

Here’s a look at the top five first-round picks in Bears history.

It took a little time for Walter Payton to get going in the NFL, but once he got rolling, there was no stopping him.

The Bears selected Payton with the fourth overall pick in the top-heavy 1975 NFL Draft. Three of the top six players in that draft class went on to become Hall of Famers: Payton, Randy White (No. 2), and Robert Brazile. Payton struggled in his first game with the Bears, rushing eight times for zero yards. He started seven games as a rookie, collecting 679 yards and rushing for seven touchdowns.

By his second year, Payton established himself as one of the premier backs in the league as the workhorse of the Chicago offense. He led the NFL with 311 rushing attempts and finished with 1,390 yards and 13 touchdowns, earning the first of his nine Pro Bowl selections and the first of his five All-Pro selections. That was just a glimpse of what was to come.

In 1977, Payton led the NFL in rushing yards with 1,852 in the final year of the league’s 14-game schedule. Payton also finished with an NFL-best 14 touchdowns and won NFL MVP honors. In 1978, the NFL extended the season to 16 games.

From 1976 to 1980, Payton strung together five straight Pro Bowl seasons, three of them being All-Pro years. He never rushed for less than 1,395 yards during that stretch. Payton then had four consecutive Pro Bowl years from 1983 to 1986, earning All-Pro honors in 1984 and 1985.

In the ’85 season, Payton, at age 32, finished second in the MVP voting after racking up 1,551 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. He earned his lone championship that year, as the Bears defeated the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl 20, at the time the biggest blowout in Super Bowl history.

In his 13 NFL seasons — all with the Bears — Payton finished with 16,726 rushing yards (the most in NFL history at the time) and 110 touchdowns on the ground. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

2Dick Butkus, No. 3 overall, 1965

Dick Butkus set the standard for defensive players in the NFL

The Bears selected Chicago’s own Dick Butkus with the third overall pick in the 1965 NFL Draft. Born and raised in the Windy City, the University of Illinois alum set the standard of greatness not only for linebackers but also for defensive players in general. He was the best at his position during his playing days and goes down as one of the best defensive players in NFL history.

Butkus played nine seasons in the NFL, earning Pro Bowl honors in the first eight. He also earned five All-Pro selections during his Hall of Fame career.

As a rookie, But

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