When Ryan Poles gets locked onto a draft prospect, he often has to be talked down from doing something aggressive.
That was the case for the Chicago Bears during the 2024 NFL Draft when Poles was ready to make a move up in the draft in order to take wide receiver Rome Odunze with the second of the team's two first-round picks. It was assistant general manager Ian Cunningham who had to talk Poles down.
The Bears may be facing a similar situation with the No. 10 selection in the 2025 NFL Draft. Recent reports have all but suggested the Bears have fallen in love with running back Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty is the best running back in this year's draft class but reports have him going as early as No. 6 to the Las Vegas Raiders.
It remains to be seen if the Bears will be willing to trade up and ensure they will be able to select Jeanty. However, it's clear that Jeanty may be at the top of their draft board. In a primer of the week ahead, ESPN's Adam Shefter emptied out his notebook, including a note on how the Bears' front office may be "praying" that Jeanty falls to them at No. 10.
The Bears have Ashton Jeanty on top of mind
We also can't cast to the side what Schefter said the Bears' plan would be if they select Jeanty. While there has been speculation that the Bears might trade D'Andre Swift, Schefter says the plan would be for the Bears to use Jeanty and Swift in a similar way that Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery are used with the Detroit Lions.
The Bears falling in love with Jeanty seems to add more explanation for how aggressive the team was last month in addressing their offensive line needs. The additions of Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman, and Jonah Jackson have put the Bears in a position to add a skill-position player in the first round if one falls to them. Even if it's not Jeanty, the Bears could stick at the skill positions by targeting Omarion Hampton or Tyler Warren as fallback options.