Biggest Draft Steals and Busts of the Ryan Poles Chicago Bears Era

Reviews of Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles are all over the map. Some think he's done a good job of hitting on their early-round picks and building a contender. Meanwhile, others still aren't over the hiring (and retaining) of Matt Eberflus and his abysmal third-round hit rate (more on that later).

No GM in the league bats a thousand in the draft. First-round picks hit roughly half the time. That percentage drops to around 30% for second-round picks and 20-25% for third and fourth-rounders. That rate drops near the single digits for players selected between the fifth and seventh rounds.

Poles' draft resume is somewhat like an hourglass. He truly has yet to miss on a first-round selection, has been abysmal in the middle rounds, and then tends to bounce back strong late in the draft.

Steal: Kyle Monangai

Kyle Monangai celebrating — Chicago Bears running back Kyle Monangai (25) against the Green Bay Packers during their wild-card playoff football game Saturday, January 10, 2026, at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. The Bears defeated the Packers 31-27. Wm. Glasheen /USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. | Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The running back position has largely become devalued in recent years. That has led to countless teams landing draft steals in recent years, and Kyle Monangai is the most recent example. You could make a strong case that he was the biggest draft steal of the entire class.

The 2025 NFL Draft featured one of the most stacked groups of running backs in recent memory, and that led Monangai to fall through the cracks all the way until the seventh round. The Bears were happy to scoop him up with the 233rd pick, and he made them look like geniuses for taking a chance on him at that point. He became the perfect complement to D'Andre Swift. Despite being the 22nd back off the board, he finished fifth among rookie backs with 783 yards. Ashton Jeanty, the first running back off the board at sixth overall, had 975 yards with 97 more attempts.

Bust: Velus Jones Jr.

Velus Jones Jr muffing a kickoff — Oct 13, 2022; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. (12) fumbles a kick off return against the Washington Commanders during the second half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Could a Bears' draft bust list even be a Bears' draft bust list without Velus Jones Jr. listed? Probably. But not when I'm the one writing it. I'm far too petty for that (he's awfully petty, so why can't I be?). Poles displayed an evil bit of foreshadowing with his decision to draft the University of Tennessee pass-catcher (or, more specifically, dropper) with his very first third-round selection as GM.

Simply put, the 25-year-old rookie was never worth the 71st pick in the draft. He never would've been worth the 150th pick of the draft, for that matter. The Bears had a dire need for a pass-catcher, and Poles ignored the fact that Jones had only one collegiate season in which he eclipsed 280 receiving yards. He instead became enamored with his speed (he ran a 4.31-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine). Jones currently has 12 career catches. He has seemingly just as many back-breaking (and often hilariously clumsy) drops.

Steal: Austin Booker

Austin Booker sacking Jordan Love — Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) is sacked by Chicago Bears defensive end Austin Booker (94) and suffers a concussion during the second quarter of their game Saturday, December 20, 2025 at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Austin Booker's stats last season might not jump off the screen (35 tackles and 4.5 sacks), but he was on the shelf for the first seven games. He's still an ascending player who just turned 23 in December. If the Bears wait until the second day of the draft (or potentially even later) to address the defensive end position, his continued development will be a major reason why.

Booker fell all the way to the 144th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft when the Bears traded back into the draft to nab him. While he may have been raw, he was far too good a value for them not to strike a deal (for their fourth-round pick in 2025) at that point. Booker flashed in both preseasons so far, and finally began to replicate those performances when the games started to matter last year.

Bust: Roschon Johnson

Roschon Johnson running through drills — Jul 23, 2025; Lake Forest, IL, USA; Chicago Bears running back Roschon Johnson (23) runs with the ball during training camp at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

I'll admit it; I was wrong about Roschon Johnson. I thought he was going to turn into what Kyle Monangai became last season, and I was beyond excited when the Bears drafted him in the fourth round (115th overall) in the 2023 NFL Draft. He was a former five-star recruit at the University of Texas and was coming into the league with fresh legs after playing behind Bijan Robinson in college.

Unfortunately, he hasn't lived up to expectations through his first three seasons, carrying the ball only 138 times for 519 yards and eight touchdowns. While he at least managed to stick around in Chicago longer than fellow 2023 fourth-round pick Tyler Scott (I went with RoJo here because he got drafted 18 picks beforehand, and some really solid players came off the board between the two selections), that isn't saying much.

Steal: Braxton Jones

Braxton Jones might not have a ton of fanfare, but there's no denying the fact that he was a steal in the fifth round. Starting left tackles (even the painfully average ones) generally aren't easy to find beyond the second round. The fact that Poles found one in the fifth round (with the 168th pick) in his first draft gave me hope that he had a keen eye for scouting linemen due to previously playing guard at Boston College.

Jones not only started from day one, but you could actually argue that he was their best offensive lineman right out of the gate. He and Teven Jenkins were the only two who played above replacement-level, and he was much more dependable than Jenkins. The Bears fielded an abysmal roster in 2022, and the fact that their draft class produced three starters (including second-round picks Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon) was a rare bright spot.

Bust: Kiran Amegadjie

Kiran Amegadie in practice — May 10, 2024; Lake Forest, IL, USA; Chicago Bears offensive lineman Kiran Amegadjie (72) during Chicago Bears rookie minicamp at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

Remember when I said that Poles finding Jones in the fifth gave me a ton of confidence in his ability to land quality offensive linemen? That mindset died in 2024, when he drafted YALE University (like, c'mon...) offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie with the 75th pick. While growing pains were certainly expected (he played for an Ivy League school, after all), him playing 125 snaps through his first two seasons certainly wasn't.

Also, it would be an understatement to blame Amegadjie's '24 campaign on 'growing pains'. He was really bad whenever he got on the field. When you consider the players who were still on the board at the time, including Pro Bowl safety Caden Bullock and two quality starting linemen in Matt Goncalves and Dominick Puni (each of whom was nabbed within the next 11 selections), the pick wound up being an unmitigated disaster.

Steal: Ozzy Trapilo

Ozzy Trapilo and Kyle Monangai celebrate a TD — Nov 23, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears running back Kyle Monangai (25) reacts with offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo (75) after scoring a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

Many thought that Ozzy Trapilo could only play on the right side when he was coming out of Boston College in 2025. That was the main reason that he fell to the tail end of the second round, when the Bears plucked him off the board with the 56th pick. It was an interesting pick at the time because Darnell Wright had the right tackle job locked down since they selected him with the tenth pick in 2023. They instead chose to play Trapilo on the left side, and the move looked like a mistake at first. A near-one-legged Braxton Jones and former undrafted free agent Theo Benedet got the first two cracks to start at left tackle early in the year.

However, after Trapilo finally got into the lineup following an injury to Benedet, he not only held his own.. he actually thrived. He held onto the starting job for the final seven games and looked capable of holding down the job over the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, Trapilo then suffered a ruptured Achilles in the Wild Card Round against Green Bay, and his future is now in doubt. Still, his promising rookie year is a major reason why I hope they avoid drafting an offensive tackle in the first round.

Bust: Zacch Pickens

Zacch Pickens on the sidelines — Sep 24, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Chicago Bears defensive tackle Zacch Pickens (96) warms up against the Kansas City Chiefs prior to a game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Zacch Pickens was selected with the 64th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. That would normally be the last pick of the second round, but it was actually the first pick of the third after the Dolphins were forced to forfeit their first-round pick. That's really unfortunate, because he might not have suffered from the dreaded Ryan Poles third-round curse had that not been the case. Who knows how good he could've been? He might've been just as good as Pro Bowl edge rusher Byron Young, who came off the board 14 picks later, or near-elite interior disruptor Kobie Turner, who got selected with the 89th pick.

Pickens only lasted two years in Chicago. He also played a total of 492 snaps over those two seasons and was a complete non-factor against both the run and the pass. The third-round curse is alive and well. Here's to hoping the Bears find a way to trade the 89th pick to the fourth round, or mortgage it to move up the board.

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