The Chicago Bears have made their General Manager decision official, hiring Ryan Poles, the executive director of player personnel for the Kansas City Chiefs. Poles wowed the team in their first meeting, and they did not let him leave the second interview without taking the job.
There are obvious reasons for the fanbase in Chicago to be nervous, and lack trust for a team that cannot make the right decisions. However, there are reasons to buy into Ryan Poles and what he could do as a General Manager.
3. Building the Offensive Line
One of the fatal flaws of Ryan Pace was his inability to build the offensive line. He leaned on his scouting and tried to make the most of the least in that area, and it failed him in a big way. There is plenty of reason to believe that Ryan Poles will not go down that path.
To start, Poles is an offensive lineman from Boston College. He appreciates the big uglies and obviously has an understanding of the position. He also knows he has to invest in the area.
If there is one thing that Kansas City has done well before and with Patrick Mahomes, it is their offensive line. From drafting Eric Fisher high to paying Mitchell Schwartz they relied on big-name tackles, and once those two got banged up, they reinvested in the line in a big way.
It should be no surprise if Poles is centered on building an offensive line.
2. Different minds of collaboration
When fans see that Ryan Poles has been with the Kansas City Chiefs since 2009, a year after his NFL career ended in 2008, they assume he does not have much experience working with different people from outside that organization. However, the Chiefs have had many facelifts since 2009, and Poles has moved up as regimes have moved on.
Ryan Poles was first hired by Scott Pioli, who was a Bill Belichick front office member with the Patriots. Pioli was around from 2009-12 until John Dorsey took over. Dorsey came from Green Bay and worked under Ron Wolf.
Poles stayed in his role, but before Dorsey left he promoted him. Then, when Brett Veach was promoted, Veach also promoted Poles. Veach came from Philadelphia and worked with Andy Reid directly.
Having experience with three separate regimes that all featured big-time winners is actually a better experience than most GM can boast.
1. Working in Scouting and Personnel
Too often you hear that one GM has one specialty or was hired for one area. Then, the team becomes good in that area and struggles with others. That may not be the case with Ryan Poles.
As noted, he has worked with multiple regimes and was promoted every time. He started his career in player personnel but quickly moved into college scouting. He as a scouting director from 2010-17, and then from 2018-2021, he worked back on the player personnel side.
He has seen how multiple regimes have different processes, but also saw how the scouts in college have to work with the scouts on the pro side to create a complete team.
The resume of Ryan Poles is as strong as any of the other General Manager candidates. He is young and has not had the GM title before, but everything else says that in a decade we could be looking at a name who helped rebuild a franchise.