Ryan Poles, Year Four...

[Mongo3451]

Year one:  he inherited a team with a terrible o-line, cap hell and no number one receiver.  Not much to do, but fix the cap and try to accumulate picks.  

Year two:  we get year three of the Justin experiment.  Terrible o-line, the DJ Moore trade, Flus, Darnell Wright, Sweat and still no pass rush. 

Year three:  the payoff.  Draft Caleb and Rome.  Terrible o-line, no pass rush and flus fired.  Drafted a punter in the fourth instead of trench help.

Year four:  draft offensive weapons Loveland and Burden.  Traded and signed entirely new IOL.  Left tackle problems continue, no pass rush and no running game yet.  History may judge him for not drafting an LT and EDGE with the first two picks of this draft. 

Nobody will ever know the truth about the who and why of coaches and players, due to how the organization was run.  I believe Warren has been a stabilizing influence on Poles.  Poles is young and will continue to grow.  For him to get above average, he must get LT, pass rush, RB, S and LB.  All upgrades! 

He says it would be a five year process and I think he's a year behind schedule, given that he will have to hit big to fix LT and pass rush.

My grade: C    A very incomplete grade at that.

I left a ton of info on the table, so fire away with your thoughts...

[adam]

The Bears have one of the lowest snap counts for drafted players, yet have had extra higher draft picks in the last few years which should translate into more snaps.

I feel like he is at about a "D" at this point. If you auto-drafted based on mock draft pre-draft rankings, you would be a "C" as a GM. Poles has drafted worse than that. If you look at the trades, the Bears have lost pretty much every one of them, except for the Carolina trade, and even that one was a no-brainer. So it is not like Poles worked the Panthers into a crazy return. It was market value and he got Moore instead of Burns, which forced him to overpay for Sweat who has underwhelmed. 

Same with getting Ben Johnson, it was a no-brainer hire.

He drafted a punter over Bucky Irving when there was a need at RB.  Velus Jones, Pickens, and Amegadjie. You can't miss in the top 75 every year, yet he does.

I liked the Thuney trade, but didn't like the Bates trade. I like the Dalman signing, but he overpaid for Odeyingbo. 

So if you just assessed each move as a plus, minus, or push, he would have more minuses than pluses, which lands him with a D for me.

 

 

 

[Mongo3451]

28 minutes ago, adam said:

The Bears have one of the lowest snap counts for drafted players, yet have had extra higher draft picks in the last few years which should translate into more snaps.

I feel like he is at about a "D" at this point. If you auto-drafted based on mock draft pre-draft rankings, you would be a "C" as a GM. Poles has drafted worse than that. If you look at the trades, the Bears have lost pretty much every one of them, except for the Carolina trade, and even that one was a no-brainer. So it is not like Poles worked the Panthers into a crazy return. It was market value and he got Moore instead of Burns, which forced him to overpay for Sweat who has underwhelmed. 

Same with getting Ben Johnson, it was a no-brainer hire.

He drafted a punter over Bucky Irving when there was a need at RB.  Velus Jones, Pickens, and Amegadjie. You can't miss in the top 75 every year, yet he does.

I liked the Thuney trade, but didn't like the Bates trade. I like the Dalman signing, but he overpaid for Odeyingbo. 

So if you just assessed each move as a plus, minus, or push, he would have more minuses than pluses, which lands him with a D for me.

 

 

 

Great points.  You have moved my grade to C-.  If Booker and Turner pan out on the DL, he gets to C+.  It's gonna take both though.

[adam]

O-Line, RB, and Edge have been issues for most of Poles time as GM. Wasted picks could've easily filled those gaps. Not even counting 2025, Poles drafted Johnson and signed Homer, but passed on James Cook, Rachaad White, and DeVon Achane. 

The ripple effect of the picks is huge too.

2022

Brisker

Cam Jurgens - OL, Trey McBride - TE - 2511 Yds, Luke Goedeke - OL, James Cook - RB - 3088 Yds, Nik Bonito - ED - 30 sacks

Jones Jr

Bernard Raimann - OL, Terrel Bernard - LB - 169 Tackles, Rachaad White - RB - 1296 Yds, Kerby Joseph - DB - 20 INTs 

 

2023

Pickens

Tank Dell - WR, Byron Young - LB - 21 sacks, Josh Downs - WR, Tucker Kraft - TE, DeVon Achane - RB, Kobie Turner - DL

 

2024

Amegadjie

Puni - OL, McMillan - WR

 

 

[BearFan PHX]

Poles is not good at his job, but now that he seems to have become a yes man for Johnson, it doesnt really bother me anymore. Johnson knows where the holes are, and he will get it done.

This first year, Johnson needed weapons for Caleb, so i get it, even though id have drafted differently. But now that Johnson has coached the team for a while, Im guessing he sees the same needs we all do.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

58 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

Poles is not good at his job, but now that he seems to have become a yes man for Johnson, it doesnt really bother me anymore. Johnson knows where the holes are, and he will get it done.

This first year, Johnson needed weapons for Caleb, so i get it, even though id have drafted differently. But now that Johnson has coached the team for a while, Im guessing he sees the same needs we all do.

Johnson and Caleb both changed the philosophy of needs. Seeing guys turn out good vs guys we took that didn't doesnt mean they would flourish here.  Sometimes the draft picks need the right coaches and players to mentor them to turn on. 

The good thing is this team has a chance to grow over the next few games and the narrative will change with winning.  If they lose, then these concerns grow gloomier

[BearFan PHX]

2 hours ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Johnson and Caleb both changed the philosophy of needs. Seeing guys turn out good vs guys we took that didn't doesnt mean they would flourish here.  Sometimes the draft picks need the right coaches and players to mentor them to turn on. 

The good thing is this team has a chance to grow over the next few games and the narrative will change with winning.  If they lose, then these concerns grow gloomier

No doubt you can put any player in a bad situation and they will underperform, so it is hard to try to scientifically compare players, I agree.

And you're also right that winning is the best deodorant! lol

I just don't like a lot of the decisions Poles has made. At the same time I completely trust Ben Johnson 100%. I think that he will eventually build a winner here, no matter who he has to get rid of to do it.

I also believe in Caleb Williams' future too. I think he's gonna be a top QB. But he is obviously still a work in progress, so we have to see him take that journey for it to be real, and nothing is guaranteed,b ut Ive seen enough that I believe in him.

And I believe Ben Johnson has to have all the juice in the building at this point - over Poles and Warren for sure. If he makes Poles take the guys he wants, then I think Poles is gonna be fine, and eventually we will be a winner.

I think this season is about installing the offense, and turning the flashes of greatness we've already seen into consistency. Then next year, with upgrades on defense, I think the window to contend will open.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

1 hour ago, BearFan PHX said:

No doubt you can put any player in a bad situation and they will underperform, so it is hard to try to scientifically compare players, I agree.

I just don't like a lot of the decisions Poles has made. At the same time I completely trust Ben Johnson 100%. I think that he will eventually build a winner here, no matter who he has to get rid of to do it.

I also believe in Caleb Williams' future too. I think he's gonna be a top QB. But he is obviously still a work in progress, so we have to see him take that journey for it to be real, and nothing is guaranteed. 

But Ben Johnson has to have all the juice in the building now - over Poles and Warren for sure. If he makes Poles take the guys he wants, then I think Poles is gonna be fine, and eventually we will be a winner.

I think this season is about installing the offense, and turning the flashes or greatness we've already seen into consistency. Then next year, with upgrades on defense, I think the window to contend will open.

We can look back at this draft in a year or two to see Bens effect.  Loveland was for sure a Ben Johnson pick and hasn't showed a glimpse of a top 10 value.  Hopefully he makes his introduction game soon.   Was Burden also a Ben guy too? Could've been but not producing as envisioned.  I dont expect them to be stars out of the gate, it took Odunze a year.   I would feel much better if Trapilo, Armagdie or even Jones would rise up and take the LT position. 

As of today, LT is my pick 1 next draft. Have to get that spot locked down long term.  If one rises up, DE RB and S are next in line. 

Booker will get his chance Monday to get back in the rotation, can he be that preseason star against real competition? At RB, we have to live with what we have for now. 

[Mongo3451]

55 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

As of today, LT is my pick 1 next draft. Have to get that spot locked down long term.  If one rises up, DE RB and S are next in line. 

Mine is a dominant pass rusher.  You can help an OT with play calling and scheme.  Pass rushers are a problem.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

12 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

Mine is a dominant pass rusher.  You can help an OT with play calling and scheme.  Pass rushers are a problem.

True, that is just as important and hard to get. Max Crosby was a 4th rounder, so I am hoping our version (Booker) can blossom soon while we add one or two in the draft because you need to keep that high intensity every down.   

I hate to scheme to hide deficiencies of the most important blocker on the line.  We have all these high profile playmakers on offense that we have to run bubble screens because we cannot run block or hold a bull rush. 

This is my early draft take. 

[Mongo3451]

35 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

True, that is just as important and hard to get. Max Crosby was a 4th rounder, so I am hoping our version (Booker) can blossom soon while we add one or two in the draft because you need to keep that high intensity every down.   

I hate to scheme to hide deficiencies of the most important blocker on the line.  We have all these high profile playmakers on offense that we have to run bubble screens because we cannot run block or hold a bull rush. 

This is my early draft take. 

It's crazy to think it has us drafting 16th while our power ranking has us at 21.  Draft pick should represent at 13.

[BearFan PHX]

This coming offseason we need

Pass Rusher
LT
Run Stopper?
Safeties
Running Back

And we also will probably look at also drafting
TE
CB
LB

I wont make a guess on the first list as to who is drafted and who is free agent or trade.
 

[ASHKUM BEAR]

2 hours ago, Mongo3451 said:

It's crazy to think it has us drafting 16th while our power ranking has us at 21.  Draft pick should represent at 13.

It is so early, who knows how they slot. 

Its been a while since I ran one.  Just wanted to see some name/position  possibilities. Did one with 1st of: LT World, RB Love, and DE TJ Parker

 

[Stinger226]

13 hours ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Johnson and Caleb both changed the philosophy of needs. Seeing guys turn out good vs guys we took that didn't doesnt mean they would flourish here.  Sometimes the draft picks need the right coaches and players to mentor them to turn on. 

The good thing is this team has a chance to grow over the next few games and the narrative will change with winning.  If they lose, then these concerns grow gloomier

Good post. This is the critical year that lifts Poles or buries him. If we end up with a winning record it changes the course of his legacy. He has plenty of misses on his record, but he has some hits to. He will be remembered for hiring BJ and drafting Caleb, not all the third round misses. He came in here with a big job, we were in cap hell and lots of old players with heavy contracts. He changed the cap situation immediately by getting rid of  older players that made us a bad team and didnt have a first round pick Inherited Justin Fields. With Fields career going in the wrong direction, we had two terrible yrs, as expected by the previous roster construction.

He came in here saying it would take 5 yrs to turn this around, we are in yr 4. 2022 draft gave us Brisker , Gordon, a 3 yr starter at LT in a 5th round pick  Braxton Jones, and a 7th round pick in a good backup Elijah Hicks. Dom Robinson is still hear but will be judged by this year's progress. This is yr 4 of that draft and the proper time( IMO) to judge his draft. C seems fair when you count he didnt have a first round pick. You cant expect  injuries as far as any of these draft picks. He also added as UDFA Jack Sanborn and Jaylon Jones that ended up plus players. 

Im not going to go thru all of his drafts but overall going into this yr, I give him a C- but that grade could change if we end up having a winning season .

Something I find questionable is people throwing out who we could have drafted that flourished after our drafted players. You can take any GM in the league and do that to make them look bad. Maybe the Ravens would be the only team that is on a plus side of that debate. Recently the Lions have been doing well also. 

I give him credit for     fixing the cap-the big trade that gave us several blue players-hiring BJ-drafting Caleb .  This is the year to determine his proper grade his 4th yr in his rebuild and will wait to make a final grade. The only thing that matters is if we become a winning team and as A Bear said, this yr has a long way to go to determine his legacy.