Film Review: What impressed Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles about Kiran Amegadjie's game against the Commanders

Will the Chicago Bears draft an offensive tackle with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft? 

It’s a question that has been recycled plenty since the Bears’ season ended and is still a topic of conversation 17 days from the first night of the draft on April 24. 

Bears general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson were asked about the state of the left tackle position and Braxton Jones’ health status after his season-ending ankle surgery at the NFL owners meetings last week. 

Johnson said that Jones is “right on track” and that the “progress is right where it needs to be right now,” but mentioned the left tackle would probably be limited in training camp.

Jones’ availability for training camp may be in question, but that’s not the case for his ability to play left tackle in Johnson’s offense. 

“Listen, the No. 1 thing, in my opinion, that tackles need to do is pass protect," Johnson said. "So I think he has the feet to get that done. We're going to challenge him to maybe gain a little more weight so that he can anchor a little bit better in pass pro. But everything I've seen so far has shown a phenomenal athlete out there on the edge that we feel like we can work with."

The Bears can work with Jones’ skillset, but that doesn’t mean the team won’t draft the left tackle of the future if the opportunity presents itself with the No. 10 overall pick. Poles mentioned he was open to having “a surplus” of players at a position and said, “Let’s just figure it out after that and compete and the best guy wins.”

Poles was asked about that mindset and how he factors in Jones’ injury and the fact that he will need a new contract after this season. Despite the question being about Jones, Poles first brought up Kiran Amegadjie. 

“Yeah, then you throw Kiran in the mix, who, you know, not only do I still think highly of him, especially going back and watching the Washington game,” he said. “There’s a lot of signs of him being successful, especially at the tackle position, but then he also went through a tough spot, which was, the way it was set up was unfortunate. Minnesota wasn’t a great outing for him. So, there is only a very small sample size there. I know competition is going to make the best out of both those guys, so weighing that as well as who is just best available in the draft. …”

Poles highlighted Amagadjie’s film against the Washington Commanders, which ended in the infamous Hail Mary. Before that play, Amagjie played 45 offensive snaps in the Week 8 loss. Jones’ final play of the game came on a fourth-and-1 with 8:30 left in the first quarter. He did not return due to a knee injury, which gave the rookie third-round draft pick out of Yale an opportunity. 

According to Pro Football Focus, Amegadjie only played nine total offensive snaps before the spot start against the Commanders. The 6-foot-5, 318-pound tackle finished the game with four total hurries, four quarterback pressures allowed, and one illegal man downfield penalty. PFF gave Amegadjie a 48.4 overall offensive grade, 59.0 run blocking, and 43.6 pass blocking. 

Those are the grades, but let’s take a look at what Amegadjie did on film that left a positive impression on Poles. 

Quick Feet

This is Amegadjie’s first pass-blocking rep of the game. Caleb Williams still has to escape the pocket, but Amegadjie shows quick feet and a change of direction and stays with the defensive end in front of him. His initial hands are outside of the shoulder pads, but the defender wasn’t making any progress on his rush.

Third Down Pass Protection

With 4:07 left in the second quarter, the Bears faced a third-and-5 at their own 34-yard line. Williams lines up in the shotgun and Amegadjie is one-on-one with Dante Fowler Jr. (No.6). The Commanders’ defensive end attempts a rip move, but Amegadjie does a good job of getting his right hand on Fowler’s inside shoulder pad, which doesn’t allow the edge rusher to bend or work towards Williams. Fowler has to loop around the opposite side to see Williams complete a pass to Rome Odunze for 16 yards. 

Helping Out

This is the play after the third-down conversion. Amegadjie starts off by getting both hands on the defensive tackle to help out Teven Jenkins, which helps give the guard better positioning to secure his block. Immediately after Amegadjie finishes helping Jenkins, he sees linebacker Bobby Wagner flash in front of him and attempts a block at the second level, which Wagner avoids, but it was still enough time for DJ Moore to run up the field for a nine-yard gain. 

The little details on this play make it a good learning rep. Amegadjie used enough power to move the defensive tackle and that gave Jenkins the positioning he needed to help secure the block. However, if Amegadjie whiffs on a second-level block, that could take a 9-yard gain and make it a 2-yard gain in the future. 

Miscommunication

D’Andre Swift loses two yards on this play and the defender opposite of Amegadjie, Fowler, gets in on the tackle. At the snap, Amagadjie clearly helps inside and then attempts to block the edge rusher who already has a step and the angle in the backfield. Darnell Wright, Coleman Shelton, and Jenkins all step to the left, while Matt Pryor and Amegadjie do the opposite. Tough to know exactly how this play should’ve gone, but the Bears definitely didn’t draw up the play to lose two yards. 

Lock Down

After the 2-yard loss, the Bears draw up a pass play that falls incomplete to Keenan Allen in the end zone. Amegadjie is left to block Fowler one-on-one. The edge rusher attempts a jump-chop club move, but Amegadjie uses his right hand to hit Fowler’s inside shoulder pad while he is in the air. Fowler loses his balance and loses the rep. Williams has to slide to avoid one Commanders’ defender and throws the ball out of the end zone. 

Late Off The Snap

Here is a third-and-12 play that Amegadjie wishes he could have back. As with all plays, it starts with timing. Amegadjie is late off the snap. Williams is calling for the ball while the offense looks slightly confused. As linebacker Frankie Luvu is working up the field after the snap, Amegadjie has his eyes inside. The rookie offensive tackle barely gets his hands on the linebacker and Roschon Johnson isn’t in a position to help. Luvu bends the corner and has Williams in his arms. The Bears’ quarterback somehow escapes but eventually goes down with a sack from another penetrating defender. 

Maybe if the Bears were set and ready for the third-down play, Amegadjie would’ve had a better rep. Who knows. The sack took the Bears out of field goal range and they were forced to punt. 

No Stunts Here

On the Bears’ first possession of the third quarter, Chicago starts backed up in their own territory. The Commanders run a look with the defensive tackle looping outside and the defensive end rushing inside. Amagadjie looks prepared to handle Fowler, who loops outside, but the defensive end does dent the pocket. Maybe there is something Amegadjie can do to help Jenkins more, but Amegadjie put himself in a position to block the looper. 

Touchdown Lead Block

The Bears failed to score any points through almost three quarters of play. Until Swift went for a 56-yard touchdown. On the play, Swift gets the handoff and has blockers in front of him on the edge, including Amegadjie. The rookie offensive tackle runs down roughly eight yards to make contact with the Commanders’ defensive back. Amegadjie loses contact and then re-engages and gets away with a block that easily could’ve been called a hold. No flag was thrown and Swift outran everybody for the Bears’ first points of the game. 

No doubt, Commanders fans wanted this play to be called back, but Amegadjie did show great effort on the play. As Swift was running downfield, you can see Amegadjie flex and yell as he looked up into the sky. 

Whiff

Swift added another highlight play to his resume with this 22-yard run that features the Bears’ running back hurdling over a defender. Amegadjie ends up on the ground and blocks the air as he watches Swift finish the run. Amegadjie lowers his helmet and doesn’t see his target. That makes it easy for the defensive end, who uses a swim move to get by the rookie tackle. 

For a player who had just nine offensive reps in the regular season before this game, Amegadjie showed good technique and movement skills. Of course, there are plenty of areas in which he can show improvement, but to play on the road in a tight game for a true first-time experience, showed Amegadjie could, for the most part, handle the moment. When he was asked to start against Minnesota on Monday Night Football later in the season, that didn’t end well. 

But for Poles and the rest of the coaching staff, it makes sense that they still believe in the young player. Amegadjie didn’t participate physically in the offseason or throughout training camp and came off the non-football injury list in mid-August. Amegadjie didn’t have an ideal start to his NFL career, but it’s far too early to say anything definitive about what he will become. 

This will be a huge season for the 23-year-old, especially since Jones will be recovering from ankle surgery. The Bears could also draft a rookie left tackle, but that shouldn’t change the mindset for Amegadjie. He needs to compete, learn from his mistakes and continue to show he can be a reliable player in the NFL.