The Bears made history Tuesday, selecting three players in the second round for the first time in the 90-year history of the NFL Draft.
They chose Missouri receiver Luther Burden III at No. 39, Boston College offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo after trading down 15 spots to No. 56 and Texas A&M defensive tackle Shemar Turner at No. 62.
"All of these guys are going to raise the level of competition in our building, which is a beautiful thing," said general manager Ryan Poles.
Burden appeared in 38 games with 34 starts the past three seasons at Missouri, catching 192 passes for 2,263 yards and 21 touchdowns. The 6-foot, 206-pounder also produced TDs on a 78-yard punt return in 2022 and 61-yard rush in 2024.
"There was a lot of value there," Poles said. "He was at the top of our board. Really did a good job following the board, kind of letting it talk to us. It was clear he was the most talented player on the board. He's an electric player, playmaker, highly competitive, and the run-after-the-catch is special, probably the best in this class. When you add that to the group that we have, things get pretty exciting."
Burden was so disappointed after being bypassed in the first round of the draft Thursday that he went for a late-night workout at Missouri. Poles won't be surprised if the 21-year-old continues to use that slight as motivation.
"Any time you get in a situation where you feel like you got passed by from certain teams for certain reasons, I do think that chip grows on your shoulder and ignites a different type of work ethic a different type of mentality," Poles said. "The key thing is capturing that and making sure that it carries on, that it's not just a flash-in-the-pan type of thing, that we can consistently put that time and work in to be at a really high level.
"The beautiful thing about our situation is you come in you've got to compete. You've got to bring it if you want time on the field. If I can't emphasize anything else, I'll go back to [coach] Ben [Johnson's] deal about being comfortable being uncomfortable. There are some guys that are going to have to grind a little bit harder than probably they ever had before. I think it's going to push everyone to be really good."
After drafting Burden, the Bears traded down, sending picks in Rounds 2 (41), 3 (72) and 7 (240) to the Bills in exchange for choices in Rounds 2 (56 and 62) and 4 (109).
"We had a number of players that we were interested in on our board," Poles said. "Kind of looked at the needs that were underneath at the teams that were below us and thought there was a good chance we could add some 'bigs' in that group. Ended up falling exactly that way and were able to get Ozzy in the boat."
Trapilo started all 34 games he played at Boston College the past three seasons, lining up at left tackle in 2022 and right tackle in 2023-24.
"Ozzy's dependable, disciplined, [a] technician, very intelligent," Poles said. "He's tough, strong. We look at lean mass for the bigs. He's a very dense player that can get movement at the point of attack, anchor well. Tall player that needs to continue to bend, but he's going to do a really good job. Just a very reliable player for us."
Poles described drafting Trapilo as "a full circle kind of deal" because Poles was a Boston College offensive lineman from 2003-07 and their fathers were teammates on the school's football team in the mid-1980s.
It's too early to predict what Trapilo's role will be as a rookie. He'll join a group of tackles that includes Braxton Jones, Darnell Wright and Kiran Amegadjie.
"I'm not sure how it's going to play out," Poles said. "I know it's going to be a very competitive training camp and offseason. Whatever best five come out of that are going to be the guys that are going to start for us.
"But as we know around here for the last three years, we've been going through a lot of different rotations and a lot of different people, so to have guys that are going to be reliable and dependable as things happen throughout the season is a good place. We want that depth. Those guys have really good role models and vets ahead of them to learn how to play this game at a high level."
In Turner, the Bears landed a 6-3, 290-pound defensive tackle that plays with the type of nasty disposition and relentless that no doubt will endear him to fans. Appearing in 43 games over the last four seasons at Texas A&M, he recorded 115 tackles, 10.0 sacks and 24 tackles-for-loss.
"Plays our brand of ball," Poles said. "Something that [defensive coaches] DA (Dennis Allen), JG (Jeremy Garrett) and Bill Johnson talk about is playing with violence, and that's exactly the way he plays the game. High motor, passionate about ball. We will feel him on the practice field as well as in games."
Asked about harnessing Turner's aggressiveness, Poles said: "Part of it's being more disciplined and playing selfless to know when you do those things, you're hurting the entire team. We'll continue to educate him when he's in the building on that part. [But] you want that edge in your defensive linemen and your defensive players, and really all the players. And I feel like if you can pull that back a little bit, that's a lot easier than having to push guys.
"I also think that is contagious. Especially with Grady [Jarrett] and those guys, it's going to be contagious amongst the group. We're probably going to have some real tough training camp days with some fights. I think that's good, though. It just raises the level of intensity for our entire football team."
