Ryan Poles' history in the NFL Draft reveals this tendency for the Chicago Bears

Ryan Poles second draft class

The Chicago Bears' last fifth-round pick was harder to research since he was one of those players who was all over everybody's draft boards.

Dominique Robinson (174) fifth round
NFL Position ranking N/A
PFF big board player ranking 81st
NFL projected round 4th
Players drafted after him of the same position: Kingsley Enagbare.
Robinson was a raw prospect, so he was on few comparable boards but a known player. I remember hearing that the Bears got a steal for an athletic clay mold.

I know many hate Pro Football Focus (PFF), but the NFL boards for last year's draft are all over the place. I will use last year's PFF draft guide to compare and contrast the 2023 Bears draft class information. Honestly, it isn't far off from the NFL census stuff anyway.

Darnell Wright (10) first round
PFF Position ranking 3rd
PFF big board player ranking 20th
PFF projected round 1st
Players drafted after him of the same position: Broderick Jones
Jones and Peter Skoronski were heavily favored as the pick for the Bears. Paris Johnson Jr was probably the top choice, but unlike most mock drafts, he went higher than projected to the Cardinals.

Gervon Dexter (53) second round
PFF Position ranking 10th
PFF big board player ranking 117th
PFF projected round 5th
Players drafted after him of the same position: Zacch Pickens
I knew the Bears looked at Dexter, but we all assumed his slow get-off would drop him; Not as far as the fifth round like PFF suggests, but the second round was a shocker. It still feels like a reach, but Poles got his guy.