The Chicago Bears are now less than a week away from kicking off their 2025 season at home on Monday Night Football against the Minnesota Vikings, with active roster concerns still existing. Despite having a new head coach with Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, fans and analysts are questioning whether general manager Ryan Poles has provided the play-callers with adequate roster personnel to execute their new schemes. One of the roster concerns that remains is the defensive end position and the group’s ability to generate consistent pass-rush, something that has been virtually non-existent during Poles tenure.
Ryan Poles simply can’t resolve the pass-rush issues that have plagued the defensive end spot
During Poles’ four years in role as Bears’ general manager, he has done extensive work to improve the defensive end position, but has yet to add any consistent and legitimate edge rushers. Since being hired in January of 2022, Poles has either drafted, traded, or signed and defensive lineman in hopes of hitting on a reliable and dominate threat of the end of line. Other than the trade that brought over Montez Sweat from the Washington Commanders in October of 2023, Chicago has failed to have a pass-rusher generate six or more sack in last four years.
One of the reasons why Poles traded for Sweat was due to a significant lack of pass-rush from not just the defensive end position but from the defensive tackle position too. Before acquiring the Pro Bowl sack specialist from the Commanders, the Bears’ sack leader through the first eight games of 2023 was edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue, who was signed before the start of the season to bolster the defensive end position. In the five games Ngakoue and Sweat played together, the pair combined for five and a half sacks, which was the closest Ryan Poles came to solidifying the position.
The position has been one of concern due to Poles’ draft selection not panning out during the four seasons, including the selection of Dominique Robinson and Austin Booker. When Ryan Poles drafted both players, draft analysts believed that Chicago’s general manager had pick the potential steal of that year’s draft. Despite recording one and a half sacks in his first ever game, Robinson has only generated a half a sack of the past two seasons while Booker had only one and half sacks during his rookie campaign last year that featured immense expectations.
Poles’ attempt to address the position via free agency has been unsuccessful, as other than Ngakoue, the rest of the signings have failed to pan out. Al-Quadin Muhammad was signed for the 2022 season and one registered one sack during the one season with Chicago while DeMarcus Walker was signed in 2023 and has recorded three and half sack with the team in each of the last two years. this past offseason, Ryan Poles spent significant free agent money on defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and defensive Dayo Odeyingbo to boost the pass-rush and to aid Sweat, who is coming off a disappointing five a half sack campaign last year.
The failure by Ryan Poles to find a long-term and consistent solution at the defensive end position, especially one capable of sacking the quarterback has been concerning, especially given who his defensive play-callers have been during his tenure. Poles’ defensive play-callers have been former head coach Matt Eberflus and now Allen, as both coaches heavily feature Cover-2 schemes, which is highly reliant on pass-rush pressure from the defensive line. Chicago’s defense has struggled over the past three years, especially with d-line pass-rush pressure and now can potentially carry over with depleted depth at the end position.
Ryan Poles’ struggles to address the defensive end position is even more concerning when comparing his work to former Bears’ general managers
The struggles Poles has had at addressing the defensive end position and finding an edge rusher of being a constant threat to rush the quarterback, is even more concerning knowing that his last three predecessors have been able to address the spot one way or the other. Whether it has been through drafting, trades, or free agency signings, previous Bears’ general managers Ryan Pace, Phil Emery, and Jerry Angelo have had success. Each of the three previous general managers have added a defensive end who recorded ten sacks or more in a season.
Despite being inconsistent when scouting and drafting players, Ryan Pace was able to address and find defensive line pass-rushers through trades and free agent signings. In 2016, Pace signed Akiem Hicks, who had seven or more sacks in three consecutive seasons and two years later traded for All-Pro edge rusher Khalil Mack, who recorded 30 sacks in three years with the Bears. Additionally, the former general manager signed Robert Quinn, who broke the Bears’ franchise record for sacks in a season with 18.5, and was traded a year later by Ryan Poles.
Pace’s predecessor was Emery, who was in the team’s general manager for a short two-year period and struggled with finding adequate roster personnel. Despite the consistent issues evaluating talent, Emery was able to sign defensive end Willie Young, who generated ten sacks in 2014 and 26 sacks total during a four-year stint with the franchise. Even a questionable signing in Lamarr Houston in 2014 turned into a successful one when Houston bounced back in 2015 to have eight quarterback takedowns.
Even Jerry Angelo has proven more successful at finding defensive end and sack talent, as he had several successful trades, free agent signings, and draft selections. In 2006, the general manger selected edge rusher Mark Anderson who recorded 12 sacks as a rookie and had already drafted a reliable end in Alex Brown back in 2002. Angelo traded for Adewale Ogunleye in 2005 and signed Julius Peppers in 2010, as both players generated 10 sacks in a season with Chicago.
When comparing Ryan Poles to his predecessors, it is highly troubling to note how the previous general managers, even with their flaws, were still able to have success finding legitimate pass-rushers. Heading into a season with a new defensive play-caller and lingering questions at the end position due to injuries and talent concerns, Poles could be facing another year where the defense is unable to take down opposing quarterbacks. If there are any struggles throughout the season by the Bears from a win-loss standpoint, it will be due to the defense’s inability to stop opposing offenses.
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