Ryan Poles made a statement when he took over the Chicago Bears. It was crystal clear at the time. There was no room for doubt. He said this team was going to build through the draft. That was his goal moving forward. Stacking homegrown talent is how he believes an organization must operate to succeed in the NFL. People weren’t sure if they could trust him. Ryan Pace said something similar when he took over in 2015. Then he became a regular on the free agent market, throwing away picks in costly trades.
Now, after watching the Bears cut down their roster to 53 players ahead of the regular season, it’s impossible to question Poles anymore. His message is loud and clear. Of the 53 players that exited the 2021 season on the roster in January, only 22 remain. That is a massive turnover in one off-season. Then there is the fact that 13 of the 31 new faces are rookies. That includes ten draft picks and three undrafted free agents.
- Kyler Gordon (2nd)
- Jaquan Brisker (2nd)
- Velus Jones (3rd)
- Braxton Jones (5th)
- Dominique Robinson (5th)
- Zachary Thomas (6th)
- Trestan Ebner (6th)
- Ja’Tyre Carter (7th)
- Elijah Hicks (7th)
- Trenton Gill (7th)
- Jack Sanborn (UDFA)
- Jaylon Jones (UDFA)
- Jake Tonges (UDFA)
Ryan Poles will put his trust in the new coaching staff.
One of the primary reasons he hired Matt Eberflus as head coach was the belief he had excellent teaching skills. Eberflus understood how to instruct players, break the game down and help them understand why certain things must be done in certain ways. Plenty of coaches can’t do that. Based on the early results from the preseason, Eberflus can. His team committed only 13 penalties total across three games and executed well. Several rookies were standouts along the way.
They didn’t look lost. That hasn’t always been the case in years past. It all comes back to the plan. Ryan Poles has his eyes on the future. He not only wants this team to contend but wants it to own the division every year. He wants it in the playoffs consistently, which improves the odds of landing a Lombardi trophy. The teams that have the most success doing this (Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Green Bay, Kansas City) do so because they draft well.
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Chicago was there once back in the 1980s. Poles aims to get there again.
