Bears GM Ryan Poles predicts breakout season for second-year player
· Yahoo Sports
The Chicago Bears have question marks along the defensive line heading into the 2026 season, especially along the interior which proved to be a weak point last year.
While Gervon Dexter has been the team's best interior lineman, Grady Jarrett didn't live up to expectations after signing a massive contract in free agency and they lost key depth pieces behind them. The Bears signed Neville Gallimore, Kentavius Street and James Lynch in free agency to serve as depth, but they also have a returning player who missed most of last season due to injury in last year's second-round pick Shemar Turner.
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Turner played in just five games as a rookie before suffering a torn ACL in Week 8 against the Baltimore Ravens. General manager Ryan Poles is expecting big things when the second-year pro returns, and he believes Turner is primed for a breakout season.
"Once he gets up and going, Shemar is a guy that I'm really excited to see have a breakout season," Poles said. "I had a ton of faith he was going to be on the same track as [fellow rookies] Luther [Burden], as Colston [Loveland], as Ozzy [Trapilo]; the more that he played, his impact was going to be felt more and more and I felt like we didn't get to see that."
The Bears are expected to be in the market for a defensive tackle in the 2026 NFL Draft, where most draft analysts believe it's in play with the 25th overall pick. Guys like Clemson's Peter Woods, Ohio State's Kayden McDonald and Florida's Caleb Banks have been popular mock picks for Chicago, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see them go in that direction. But the Bears will continue their best-available approach in the draft, which could mean taking a defensive tackle later and relying on young players, like Turner, to step up in 2026.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears GM Ryan Poles predicts breakout season for Shemar Turner