Final Grade for Ryan Poles first year as Chicago Bears GM

Chicago Bears did great with UDFAs and Waivers

One area in which you have to give Ryan Poles credit was his ability to scavenge waivers and the UDFAs to find guys to fill out the roster.

Both Jack Sanborn and Jaylon Jones ended up starting a ton. They also found guys like Jake Tonges and Chase Allen who have supplied depth in the tight end room.

Beyond that, Ryan Poles hit big-time on some waivers. It was not actually Alex Leatherwood, although fans loved him as the key name. Instead, Trevon Wesco and Armon Watts became key contributors and ended up bumping guys on the depth chart.

He also found Josh Blackwell, who was excellent on special teams, while also serving as solid depth in the slot. Lastly, he added a potential long-term special teams asset in Sterling Weatherford.

You can say this is bottom-of-the-roster talent, but he found it, and he is filling the depth. It is good to have depth, and it gives him the chance to add some real names this offseason.

Adding about eight guys who could be in the mix on future teams from UDFAs and waivers is impressive, even if Watts is the biggest name on the list. Both moves get As, and this gets him much closer to a C+