Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles was handed very few picks in the draft
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles was not in an enviable position this April. The Bears had only six picks heading into the draft. None of those six picks were in the first round. The roster Poles inherited was severely depleted after years of mismanagement by former general manager Ryan Pace.
Poles took some lumps on the front end. Instead of drafting higher caliber projected players in the third round, the Bears traded away some of their picks to get more selections in the 5th, 6th, and 7th rounds. Poles looked to add depth to the roster as the Chicago Bears rebuild.
After a mostly pedestrian free agency offseason from Poles (although not exactly boring if you remember his failure to acquire Ryan Bates and the drama with Larry Ogunjobi), analysts looking at the Bears’ moves didn’t have much material to say what the team did well to prepare for this season.
One analyst wrote a piece highlighting the “best offseason move ” for each of the NFC teams. Poor Brad Spielberger, writing for Pro Football Focus, had to come up with the idea of the Chicago Bears’ best offseason move. It was moving back in the draft. Here’s what Spielberger wrote:
No singular move deserves acclaim as the best move this offseason for the Bears, but that’s exactly how a rebuild should be approached at the outset. Chicago is several pieces away from a competitive unit on both sides of the ball, and that’s why stockpiling extra draft capital on Day 3 was sharp as new general manager Ryan Poles looks to overhaul the roster. Chicago was without a first-round pick for the third draft out of the last four but found a way to add more talent at the tail end of the weekend.
Two of their Day 3 picks were used on FCS offensive linemen Braxton Jones out of Southern Utah and Ja’Tyre Carter from Southern University, both of whom ranked top-10 among FCS tackles in PFF wins-above-average for the 2021 season. Chicago’s patient approach and recognition of the fact that more dart throws on Day 3 improves your odds of finding a diamond in the rough could turn the team around sooner rather than later.
Did the Chicago Bears get better by drafting worse projections?
It’s disappointing that the Chicago Bears don’t have shiny new toys to watch this season on offense. The Bears’ free agency and draft have not convinced me the Bears are serious about aiding Justin Fields to be the franchise quarterback.
Adding more darts to the draft board is one kind of strategy. And it’s the kind of strategy that you’d employ if you have a lack of faith in the scouting department. Fair enough if you’re a new general manager. But rebuilding a team with a plethora of potential NFL scrubs isn’t going to help the joint.
Imagine if you were “fixing up” up a house, and you noticed the piping job was jacked. The whole house now needs to be replumbed and you must pay for the labor by the hour. Would you hire a plumber with skills, one who knows how to lay the pipe? Or would you hire a team of plumber apprentices, who have the size and weight of a future plumber, but don’t really know the hot side from the cool side to replumb?
Poles chose the latter to build his shack. The Bears have a roster full of players who will be learning on the fly in July and August. Was it a good move to trade down? Probably for Poles, because he didn’t what he was doing in this draft.
The Chicago Bears needed a capable general manager and scouting department to choose better players for the Bears. If this was the best move the Bears made in the offseason they’re in trouble.
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