Many Chicago Bears fans are nervous about the next two months. They know that this off-season will be heavily focused on fixing the offensive line. The problem is that the man most directly responsible for its construction up to this point is still in charge. Despite being a former offensive lineman himself, Ryan Poles’ efforts leave a lot to be desired. Darnell Wright is turning into a good player, but outside of him, it’s been mostly mediocre to outright bad. Braxton Jones is average. Nate Davis was a disaster. Ryan Bates was damaged goods. It is fair to question his eye for talent in that area.
Thankfully, it appears new head coach Ben Johnson was at least somewhat aware of this issue. That is why his hiring of Dan Roushar as offensive line coach is so important. He held that job with the New Orleans Saints from 2016 through 2020. At that time, they drafted Ryan Ramczyk, Will Clapp, Erik McCoy, and Cesar Ruiz. All are still active in the league, one is a Pro Bowler, and another is an All-Pro. Presuming the Saints accepted his input on scouting reports, this indicates he has a sharp eye for talent.
Ryan Poles does a good job of giving coaches a voice in scouting.
He absorbed that during his time in Kansas City. History says that when coaches and scouts are aligned on players, it usually produces good results. Johnson has done Ryan Poles a great service with the staff he’s put together. He and Roushar will be able to help the GM pinpoint guys who not only fit the system they’ll build but should end up becoming good players. Chicago is well-positioned to fix this issue. They have almost $70 million in cap space and four picks in the first three rounds. They should be able to come away with three credible starters with those resources. For the first time in the past few years, it feels like they have the right minds in the right places to get it done.
