Grading the Chicago Bears 2022 NFL Draft
Ryan Poles worked his first draft as a general manager in 2022. The Chicago Bears started the draft with only five picks and didn’t own a first-rounder. That wasn’t a bad thing though seeing it cost them that first-round pick to move up the year prior and select Justin Fields. We can thank Ryan Pace for that gift while still acknowledging he made too many mistakes to stick around — the biggest mistake being Matt Nagy.
When grading any NFL Draft, it usually takes two to three years to truly know if a player is going to work out or not. Therefore, this grade could easily change over the next year or two. We will do our best to project the players’ outcomes based on what we have seen from them this season.
- Second Round, Pick 39 – Kyler Gordon, CB
- Second Round, Pick 48 – Jaquan Brisker, S
- Third Round, Pick 71 – Velus Jones, Jr., WR
- Fifth Round, Pick 168 – Braxton Jones, LT
- Fifth Round, Pick 174 – Dominique Robinson, DE
- Sixth Round, Pick 186 – Zachary Thomas, OL
- Sixth Round, Pick 203 – Trestan Ebner, RB
- Sixth Round, Pick 207 – Doug Kramer, C
- Seventh Round, Pick 226 – Ja’Tyre Carter, OL
- Seventh Round, Pick 254 – Elijah Hicks, S
- Seventh Round, Pick 255 – Trenton Gill, P
There are plenty of players on this list who have contributed this season. Jaquan Brisker looks legit. He has been dominant most of the season before missing two games to a concussion. Kyler Gordon has had a roller-coaster season with a rough start followed by a few great weeks and then followed by another rough few weeks. His potential is there though and will be a major piece of the franchise’s defense moving forward.
Braxton Jones worked his way into the starting lineup as the left tackle. For a fifth-round pick, he’s had a very solid year. His biggest issue is strength against stronger ends who can bull-rush him. With another offseason of strength training, I expect him to be even better next season. Dominique Robinson has been a steady contributor on defense, but after a hot start, he has cooled off drastically. Finally, Trenton Gill has been phenomenal as the team’s punter this year.
Velus Jones, Jr. has been a big disappointment. He has struggled on punt returns and hasn’t contributed positively enough elsewhere. Elijah Hicks looks like a seventh-round pick when starting, but could be a solid depth piece. We haven’t seen enough of Zachary Thomas, Doug Kramer, or Ja’Tyre Carter to know if they will be around long.
The jury is still out, but based on how many picks the team started with and who they ended up with, Ryan Poles did a fairly decent job.