The Chicago Bears’ season-opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings is a game that fans in the Windy City will hope to soon forget, but for six members of the Bears roster, Monday September 8 will be a night they’ll certainly remember forever.
That’s because six players that Chicago selected in the 2025 NFL Draft made their regular season debut underneath the bright, primetime lights at Soldier Field on Monday Night Football. Unfortunately, the Bears tragically let this winnable game against their NFC North rival slip away despite carrying a 17-6 lead into the 4th quarter, but even still, when the dust settles on the playing careers of each of these guys, this will be a night they look back on fondly.
Let’s take a look at how all Bears draft picks performed on Monday night, starting with tight end Colston Loveland.
Colston Loveland (Round 1, 10th Pick)
Stats: 38 offensive snaps, 2 targets, 2 receptions, 12 yards, 52.1 overall PFF grade
Despite the fact that Colston Loveland was listed as a co-starter at tight end along with sixth-year veteran Cole Kmet on Chicago’s Week 1 depth chart, Loveland was on the field for 22 fewer offensive snaps on Monday night than Kmet was, and as a result, the target share skewed in Kmet’s direction (4 to 2).
Still, Loveland managed to snag both balls throw his way, but all things considered, this wasn’t the type of performance that the Bears coaching staff must have imagined for the rookie tight end when they used a top ten pick on him five months ago.
Luther Burden (Round 2, 39th Pick)
Stats: 18 offensive snaps, 6 special teams snaps, 1 target, 1 reception, -3 yards, 1 kickoff return, 44 yards, 55.1 overall PFF grade
Luther Burden was a non-factor in the passing game, but he did have one noteworthy moment on special teams. Late in the 2nd quarter, after Minnesota had hit on a field goal to close the gap to 10-6, Burden fielded a kickoff and took it back 44 yards, briefly giving Bears fans some hope he’d bust one for a touchdown before heading into the halftime locker room.
Luther Burden was shoved out of bounds on that return and the Bears got nothing before the half ended, but this one special teams play did raise an interesting question for the Bears moving forward… Devin Duvernay has years of NFL experience returning kicks and punts, but he doesn’t have the turbo-charged extra level of speed and athleticism that the rookie out of Missouri has. At what point will Burden become more a factor on special teams?
An additional question… will it be Burden or Colston Loveland who eventually emerges as the 3rd option in this Bears passing attack?
Ozzy Trapilo (Round 2, 56th Pick)
Stats: 5 special teams snaps
After looking like he had the inside track to be named Chicago’s starting left tackle early on in training camp, Ozzy Trapilo not only lost the job to Braxton Jones, he seemingly fell out of favor with a Bears coaching staff that seemed to adore him in early-August.
Trapilo was limited to just five snaps on special teams — the same as 6th Round pick Luke Newman — and had to watch from the sideline as second-year undrafted tackle Theo Benedet got four snaps as the extra tackle on the field when Ben Johnson went with heavier personnel looks.
Shemar Turner (Round 2, 62nd Pick)
Stats: DNP
Shemar Turner missed a good chunk of training camp with an ankle injury, but returned in mid-August and didn’t carry an injury designation into Monday night’s game. However, Turner didn’t even manage to crack the defensive line rotation in Week 1.
Ruben Hyppolite II (Round 4, 132nd Pick)
Stats: 8 defensive snaps, 19 special teams snaps, 3 tackles
Ruben Hyppolite’s best opportunity to see the field in a starting capacity likely came and went this week with TJ Edwards out of action. Noah Sewell stepped in and occupied Edwards’ spot with a decent amount of success — Sewell’s nine tackles led the way for Chicago — but there’s something about the way Hyppolite plays that I remain impressed by. He plays at a speed that’s hard to miss, and he always seems to be around the ball.
Even if it takes some time, I imagine he’ll continue to get worked into the rotation of linebacker, and he’ll remain a mainstay on special teams. I’ll go on record and say that Hyppolite is going to end up being a 4th Round steal for the Bears.
Zah Frazier (Round 5, 148th Pick)
Stats: DNP
Not long before the 2025 campaign got under way, the Bears ruled cornerback Zah Frazier out for season due to “personal reasons.” Although there’s no telling what kind of player the former UTEP standout projects to be, his presence would’ve been beneficial on a night when both Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon were sidelined due to injury.
Luke Newman (Round 6, 195th Pick)
Stats: 5 special teams snaps
Same story as Ozzy Trapilo, though Newman’s lack of PT doesn’t come as a surprise.
Kyle Monangai (Round 7, 233rd Pick)
Stats: 9 offensive snaps, 1 target, 1 reception, 11 yards, 51.4 overall PFF grade
After being identified as a player that Ben Johnson trusted heading into Week 1, Kyle Monangai saw limited action in his regular season debut. Even as the Bears were struggling to get anything going on the ground, Monangai was completely uninvolved in the rushing attack and was only targeted once in the passing game.
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