The Chicago Bears‘ defense has become the second-class citizen in the city for the first time in ages. Under head coach Ben Johnson, the offense has taken center stage, aided by quarterback Caleb Williams, a stout offensive line, and young weapons such as Colston Loveland, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, and Kyle Monangai. While that is great for the entertainment factor, it doesn’t erase the uncomfortable truth. This current defense is not what you would call championship-caliber. Now it looks like a massive retooling is on the horizon next spring, and general manager Ryan Poles will be in charge of that.
Plenty of fans are not happy about it.
They blame the Bears’ GM for the unit’s current state. His inability to land any legitimate blue-chip player despite running the show for five offseasons is damning. Why should they suddenly believe he will get the problem fixed? The man has a long list of bad misfires. However, there is a wrinkle in this situation that hasn’t been discussed much. One must not forget that Poles spent his first three years on the job building that defense for a completely different coaching staff. Much of the current unit still bears the fingerprints of Matt Eberflus.
Ryan Poles faced a tough challenge of transitioning a unit on the fly
| Player | Position | Acquisition Era |
|---|---|---|
| Montez Sweat | Defensive End (LDE) | Matt Eberflus era (2023) |
| Grady Jarrett | Defensive Tackle (LDT) | Ben Johnson era (2025) |
| Kentavius Street | Defensive Tackle (RDT) | Ben Johnson era (2026) |
| Dayo Odeyingbo | Defensive End (RDE) | Ben Johnson era (2025) |
| Devin Bush | Weakside Linebacker (WLB) | Ben Johnson era (2026) |
| T.J. Edwards | Middle Linebacker (MLB) | Matt Eberflus era (2023) |
| D’Marco Jackson | Strongside Linebacker (SLB) | Ben Johnson era (2025) |
| Jaylon Johnson | Left Cornerback (LCB) | Matt Nagy era (2020) |
| Tyrique Stevenson | Right Cornerback (RCB) | Matt Eberflus era (2023) |
| Kyler Gordon | Nickelback (NB) | Matt Eberflus era (2022) |
| Dillon Thieneman | Strong Safety (SS) | Ben Johnson era (2026) |
| Coby Bryant | Free Safety (FS) | Ben Johnson era (2026) |
Eberflus preferred players with size and length. That is why you saw acquisitions like Sweat, Stevenson, Jaquan Brisker, Gervon Dexter, and Tremaine Edmunds. From the moment Dennis Allen arrived as the new defensive coordinator, the parameters shifted dramatically. Suddenly, it became less about size and length and more about speed. He wanted defensive tackles with a quick first step and linebackers who could play coverage. Cornerbacks needed to survive in 1-on-1 situations. This defense was not well-suited to those demands, and Ryan Poles didn’t have the resources to fix it all in one go.
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Thieneman is the only 1st round pick he’s spent on the defensive side to date. All the others have gone into the offense. Most of the 2nd round picks he invested in recent years were under Eberflus. That is why the Bears have had to lean on veteran free agents like Odeyingbo, Jarrett, Bush, and Bryant.
Bears fans have seen this scenario before.
For years, the team had been geared towards building a Lovie Smith-type defense. Quick, up-the-field defensive linemen, fast linebackers, and tough defensive backs. All of that changed when Vic Fangio took over as defensive coordinator in 2015. Like Poles, general manager Ryan Pace faced the difficult task of giving the unit a complete overhaul. It was an up-and-down experience those first two years. The defense had some rough stretches. However, things finally came together in 2017. The unit finished in the top 10 in both yards and points allowed.
That was because it was made up almost entirely of players handpicked by Pace and Fangio. The only exception was cornerback Kyle Fuller. Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Leonard Floyd, Danny Trevathan, Adrian Amos, Prince Amukamara, and Eddie Jackson all joined the team in that three-year stretch. Poles hasn’t yet reached that point. He’s in year two of the project. There are still several spots he must overhaul, especially up front. Next spring marks the next opportunity he’ll have the extensive resources necessary to do it.
