{"id":163248,"date":"2026-03-24T20:21:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T01:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/?p=163248"},"modified":"2026-03-24T20:21:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T01:21:48","slug":"top-defensive-prospect-confirms-visit-with-chicago-bears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/top-defensive-prospect-confirms-visit-with-chicago-bears\/","title":{"rendered":"Top defensive prospect confirms visit with Chicago Bears"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With the NFL draft just a month away, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/chicago-bears-trent-williams-trade-49ers-nfl-rumors\/\">Chicago Bears<\/a> will have some tough decisions to make. The team will have to find a way to fill multiple holes at defense, including at defensive tackle, edge rush, and safety.<\/p>\n<p><strong>More news:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/chicago-bears-select-secondary-help-in-todd-mcshays-latest-mock-draft\/\">Chicago Bears select secondary help in Todd McShay&amp;#8217;s latest mock draft<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With four picks in the top 100 picks in the 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/chicago-bears-urged-to-trade-for-key-position-ahead-of-2026-nfl-draft\/\">draft<\/a>, the Bears\u2019 front office have multiple routes they can go for their first round pick.<\/p>\n<p>The most logical decision would be to boost the defensive line, at either edge rusher or defensive tackle. And now, it\u2019s been confirmed that the team has met with one of the best defensive tackle prospects available.<\/p>\n<h2>The Chicago Bears have met with Ohio State defensive tackle Kayden McDonald<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_157453\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-157453\" style=\"width: 2560px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-157453\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/USATSI_27709597-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Kayden McDonald, Ohio State Buckeyes, Chicago Bears\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/USATSI_27709597-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/USATSI_27709597-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/USATSI_27709597-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/USATSI_27709597-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/USATSI_27709597-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/USATSI_27709597-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/USATSI_27709597-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/USATSI_27709597-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-157453\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ohio State Buckeyes defensive tackle Kayden McDonald (98) watches from the sideline during the NCAA football game against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Nov. 29, 2025. Ohio State won 27-9.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In an interview with Sports Illustrated\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/draft\/onsi\/player-profiles\/kayden-mcdonald-s-dominance-creates-first-round-nfl-draft-buzz\">Justin Melo<\/a>, the Ohio State standout confirmed he has met with the Bears front office.<\/p>\n<p>McDonald confirmed that Chicago was among the many teams he met during interviews at the scouting combine back in February.<\/p>\n<p>He also confirmed that he has a visit scheduled at Halas Hall for a top 30 visit. The Bears are among numerous NFL teams that are bringing the defensive tackle in to visit their facility this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>The All-American picked up three sacks and nine tackles for loss last season with the Buckeyes and has the potential to be a top defensive player in the NFL. With the right coaching and scheme, McDonald can turn into a game changer.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Per <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JustinM_NFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JustinM_NFL<\/a> , The Chicago <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Bears?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Bears<\/a> will host top DT Kayden McDonald for a top-30 visit. <\/p>\n<p>McDonald is one of the top DTs in the &#39;26 NFL Draft. Last season at Ohio State<\/p>\n<p>-All-American<br \/>-14 G<br \/>-65 TOT<br \/>-9 TFL<br \/>-3 SK<br \/>-2 FF<br \/>-1 PD<br \/>-1 FR<\/p>\n<p>A top option for Chicago with pick #25 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SQEJm5RQxY\">pic.twitter.com\/SQEJm5RQxY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Just Another Year Chicago: Bears (@JAYChi_Bears) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JAYChi_Bears\/status\/2036500997900501231?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 24, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_161243\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-161243\" style=\"width: 2560px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-161243\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_28330297_168419782_lowres-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Ryan Poles, Chicago Bears\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_28330297_168419782_lowres-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_28330297_168419782_lowres-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_28330297_168419782_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_28330297_168419782_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_28330297_168419782_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_28330297_168419782_lowres-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_28330297_168419782_lowres-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_28330297_168419782_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-161243\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Feb 24, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the NFL draft just a month away, the Chicago Bears will have some tough decisions to make. The team will have to find a way to fill multiple holes at defense, including at defensive tackle, edge rush, and safety. More news:\u00a0Chicago Bears select secondary help in Todd McShay&amp;#8217;s latest mock draft With four picks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":540,"featured_media":157454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,6863],"tags":[49,8812,87,153],"class_list":{"0":"post-163248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicagobears","8":"category-chicago-bears-news","9":"tag-chicago-bears","10":"tag-kayden-mcdonald","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-nfl-draft"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Chicago Bears to host top defensive prospect for visit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Chicago 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Root","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/cropped-IMG_2193-scaled-1-96x96.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/cropped-IMG_2193-scaled-1-96x96.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/cropped-IMG_2193-scaled-1-96x96.jpeg","caption":"Eric Root"},"description":"Title: Trending News Writer for ChiCitySports Education: Joliet Junior College, Associate in Arts degree for Business. Expertise: Chicago Bears, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Blackhawks Eric Root is a sports writer for the trending and breaking news team at ChiCitySports Eric joins the team with a wealth of knowledge focused around Chicago Sports. He is a very passionate and diehard fan of the Chicago Bears. Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox. &nbsp;","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/Eric_Root54"],"url":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/author\/eric-root\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/540"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163248"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163252,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163248\/revisions\/163252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}