5 ways Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles has mismanged the offensive line

4. The Chicago Bears needed to move on from Cody Whitehair

Cody Whitehair is off to the worst start in his NFL career. It was pretty clear to see coming from anyone outside the building, which is why it is appalling to see Ryan Poles be so naive inside the building. When you look at Whitehair, his career will be underrated and now lose a lot of its legacy because the end is getting ugly.

Still, he did a lot for this team over the years. He has moved positions when they asked him to and has fought through injury. The issue is that he is now 31 years old, and fighting through those injuries has caught up to him.

He missed time in 2020 and had his worst season, and then in 2021, he looked like he was rusty and coming off a bad year. He missed time again in 2022, and at that point, it was obvious that we would never see the 2019 Whitehair again. Ryan Poles not only stuck with Whitehair despite an enormous cap hit, but he moved him to center as the unconditional starter with no competition.

In classic Bears fashion, the Chicago Bears moved Whitehair from center back to guard just a week or so before the season. He should not have even been trusted on the roster, let alone trusted as the answer with no reason to bring in depth.