The Chicago Bears under Ryan Poles have been a bag of mixed feelings. Poles’ first few moves scared many fans and put question marks up all over the league. That list includes:
- Trading Khalil Mack
- Letting free agents Allen Robinson, Akeim Hicks, James Daniels, and Bilal Nichols walk.
- Mission on free agents Larry Ogunjobi and Ryan Bates
- Selecting a defensive-minded head coach
- Not drafting an offensive lineman or wide receiver early in the draft
That list will continue to grow. I wrote an article on how the media views this offseason as a failure that could produce a high draft pick in 2023 to fix all of the “mistakes” listed above. I have read and heard the phrase “rookie general manager mistake” far too often to think Ryan Poles is in over his head.
What have we seen from Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears?
Poles has been detailed, open, and honest about his approach since he was hired. I find it hard to believe that his decisions are mistakes. His choices seem more like calculated risks based on a thoroughly thought-out process. Again, that isn’t at all how I would have done things, but I am not a GM.
We should start with the promises. Ryan Poles said he plans to build through the draft and focus on building through the trenches first. I think people took that too literally. Poles was never going to give away his draft tendencies before the draft. He never said he would draft offensive or defensive linemen early and often.
Poles stated that his focus is on those areas overall and that he wants to build his version of the Chicago Bears through the draft. Thus far, that is what he has been doing. With what we have seen from Justin Jones and Michael Schofield being secondary options, I could only imagine what this team would look like had Poles gained his primary options.