The first year of being a General Manager will always be a tough year. It is probably valuable that the Chicago Bears were in a position where Ryan Poles was able to watch a rebuild and learn as his mistakes were not completely crushing the team. Still, after we wrote about his best moves, you had to know that a fair look at some of his worst decisions was coming.
What are the five worst decisions that Ryan Poles has made?
The Chicago Bears should have drafted George Pickens
This is one that will sit with Chicago Bears fans for a while. It also seems to be a topic of conversation every time George Pickens makes a big play, which happens to be a lot. Pickens had over 800 yards receiving this season and went 52 overall in the 2022 NFL draft. He was the fourth-best in yards by rookie wideouts, and that is with Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky as his quarterback.
This means the Chicago Bears passed on a receiver twice, and he had over 300 more yards than any Bears wide receiver and he is just 21 years old. This is a big issue. What makes the decision crazy is that everyone, pundits, fans, and experts, all said that wide receiver was a huge need. They all said that George Pickens was the best on the board. They all said that Pickens would fit with Justin Fields.
When you see that a lot of what Fields did was deep balls, and jump balls, and a lot of what Pickens did was deep balls and jump balls, it has to make Bears fans feel sick knowing what they missed out on.
After George Pickens was Alec Pierce, who had a nice rookie season. Still, after that, it was Skyy Moore, Velus Jones, Jalen Tolbert, David Bell, Danny Gray, Erik Eziknama, Romeo Doubs, and Calvin Austin just to round out the fourth round.
Doubs hit 400 yards, and he joins Skyy Moore and David Bell as the only wideouts drafted after Pickens to hit 200 yards. Pickens doubled the best wide-out taken after, and had about four times as much as any third-round or later wide-out.
There was a tier drop after Pickens and Ryan Poles did not see it. While no receivers were drafted after Pickens with success, the list of cornerbacks taken after Kyler Gordon is pretty impressive.
Cordale Flott, Marcus Jones, Coby Bryant, Josh Williams, Pepe Williams, and Tariq Woolen went between pick 81-153 and were taken in that order. All of these cornerbacks were better than Kyler Gordon this season.
They may not all have the same upside, but in the case of someone like Woolen, it is hard to see Kyler Gordon ever being that good. Even Bryant and Jones have flashed in the slot. Josh Williams is playing in the playoffs.
Ryan Poles had to know the pockets in the draft and that he could wait on a cornerback, but could not wait on a wide receiver. Pickens fell right into his lap and every wideout after he struggled. Gordon was looked as a questionable decision at the time because of the need for a guy like Pickens, and that remains the case now.
The Chicago Bears doubled down by trading for Chase Claypool
You could argue that Ryan Poles realized how wrong he was for passing on George Pickens when he traded for Chase Claypool. If you have ever played poker, this is the person who lost a bad hand, is tilting, and is now pushing his chips in aggressively. It almost never works out.
Let’s break this one down. The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted George Pickens 52nd overall. They discovered very quickly that Pickens was better than Chase Claypool, and moved Claypool into the slot.
So, the Chicago Bears, who passed on George Pickens with pick 39, then traded pick 32 for a player that is universally accepted as worse than George Pickens. Claypool is older and signed to fewer years on his deal. That is the definition of hustling backward.
On the Steelers’ side, they have to be doing backflips knowing they have the better wide receiver and traded their lesser player for a better pick back. Heck, even Claypool was not drafted as high as pick 32, so they got three years out of him, and then got a better return. It’s like buying a car, driving it for three years, and selling it for profit. Must be nice.
Ryan Poles had to overpay for Chase Claypool because the team was so weak at wide receiver. They would not have been that weak had Poles just paid the right price to draft Pickens. Instead of Pickens at 39 in 2022, they get Claypool at 32 in 2023. He ended up paying a huge tax to acquire a worse receiver.
Now, with Claypool, he has a player who did not produce and has one year left on his deal. On top of that, losing the 32nd pick limits his ability to trade for any other wideout talent this offseason. The hits keep coming.
Chicago Bears whiffed on Velus Jones
Yes, they are all sort of blending together here. Passing on George Pickens led him to Velus Jones. Jones being so bad led him to Chase Claypool. It is all tied together. As we mentioned, there was a tier break, and Ryan Poles missed it.
Still, even knowing the break was there many saw Velus Jones as a reach. Jones managed 107 yards. The only two wideouts drafted ahead of him to be worse are John Metchie, and Jameson Williams, and both missed the majority of the year.
Meanwhile, players drafted after Jones to produce more include David Bell, Romeo Doubs, Khalil Shaki, and Jalen Nailor. What really stings about those names is that most were widely accepted as better prospects than Velus Jones. We also had write-ups for every one of those wideouts. This is not revisionist history.
Velus Jones has flashed a bit on kick returns and started to get a knack for chasing down returns as well. Still, he lost his job on punt returns and was inactive earlier in the year. Again, when you think that a combination of George Pickens and Coby Bryant could be here, but instead it is Jones and Kyler Gordon, it is a tough pill to swallow.
Beyond that, all three decisions here combine to make you question Poles and his ability to bring in the right wideouts. Passing on Pickens, trading for Claypool, and drafting Jones is joined by signing Byron Pringle to more money than Dante Pettis and Equanimeous St. Brown combined.
Draft, trade, and free agency failed to produce much. He has more resources, but there was potential for a much better group with what he was given last season.
Chicago Bears signings that were close to home fell apart
This happens all of the time across any sport. When a new coach or general manager gets hired, they bring in their guys. The guys they loved coaching from a past team, and the guys that they think are hidden gems. For Ryan Poles, Matt Eberflus, and Luke Getsy, it may be a learning lesson about getting too close to people.
Ryan Poles signed Byron Pringle to be his guy. He was there when Pringle signed as a rookie UDFA, and I bet it made him feel good to give him his first real free-agent deal. Injuries and off-of-the-field issues aided this, but Pringle was a huge dud this year.
Even if he was behind because of injuries, the inability to beat out Dante Pettis when you are making over twice as much as him says it all.
Matt Eberlflus saw Al-Quadin Muhammad get drafted in round six, and watched his man blossom into a rotational pass rusher. He had to give AQM a chance on this depleted line. Now, most fans would love for Muhammad to sign with any other team. His contract was also a million or two more than you would expect, and the production did not pay out.
Lastly, Lucas Patrick. Of course, Luke Getsy worked with him so well, it is a perfect fit. He would be the center of the future, and his contract will look like a bargain. Nope, it was another overpay. Injuries hurt Patrick, but he was legitimately bad when he played at guard, and he ended with 10 snaps at center.
Every story is the same. He was drafted late or was a UDFA journeyman. He worked hard, and the coach saw it firsthand. They probably fit the culture. All three were overpaid and all three struggled to make any impact. In all likelihood, all three will be gone. The Chicago Bears need to stick to the plan, and not stick with guys they know and love.
Did Chicago Bears really not know what they had in Teven Jenkins?
This happened so long ago it is hard to remember that it actually did happen and was real. The Chicago Bears front office almost never bought into Teven Jenkins. They can deny it, but it is pretty obvious that they were dangling him out there.
They tried him at left tackle, and right tackle and they wanted him to step away and clear his head. They almost started Michael Schofield at right guard over him. They did start Lucas Patrick, with a cast on his thumb, over Teven Jenkins.
For multiple games, they made Teven Jenkins split snaps with an injured Patrick. It is quite clear that this front office essentially backed into Teven Jenkins starting for them, and now being a core piece of their roster.
Imagine if Schofield is not completely out of shape from just signing a week or two prior. They would have never given Teven Jenkins a shot. If they signed Ryan Bates, Jenkins would be gone by now. That is almost shocking to think about, and it does question some things about the line moving forward.