Proper Base Being Set by Bears Say Critics

Picks by GM Ryan Poles in this year's draft have already impressed media enough to see eventual success coming from the team's personnel department.

The talent eye of Bears GM Ryan Poles is already being praised league-wide as well as outside of it. This may or may not say something about their future based on what the Bears went through with former GM Ryan Pace, but at least it's a start.

NFL.com writer Chad Reuter is already projecting two rookies Poles selected this year as players for an all-rookie team. The two are tackle Darnell Wright and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.

"Chicago selected Wright to play right tackle on the revamped offens(ive) line, which is tasked with not only protecting the young signal-caller but also leading a power run game with D'Onta Foreman, Khalil Herbert and fourth-round pick Roschon Johnson (whom I considered on this list) at running back," Reuter wrote.

The two make sense more than second-round pick Gervon Dexter Jr. and Zacch Pickens because they figure to get immediate playing time as starters. The two defensive linemen have veterans ahead of them. Johnson will have trouble making an all-rookie team because there are two backs ahead of him, but it doesn't mean he can't contribute.

In fact, in Pro Football Focus' Early 2023 NFL Roster Rankings for All 32 Teams: Strengths, Weaknesses, Rookies to Watch, Dalton Wasserman and Jim Wyman concluded Johnson is the rookie to watch for the Bears.

"There are a ton of choices here amid Chicago's huge draft class," the article stated. "Johnson is a terrific fit for their offense. The Bears may have an elite run-blocking unit next year for Johnson to play behind. He'll likely start third on Chicago’s depth chart, behind Herbert and Foreman, but that doesn't mean he is buried. His hard-charging style makes him perfect for cold weather. Johnson's missed-tackles-forced-per-attempt figure in 2022 was better than his Texas teammate Bijan Robinson."

If you're doing something as critical better than Robinson, it's little wonder Johnson was so popular at Texas.

JOIN CAESAR'S SPORTSBOOK AND GET FIRST BET COVERED TO $1,250 

The support for Stevenson is widespread. ESPN's Bears beat writer Courtney Cronin chose Stevenson as the surprise off-season standout from Chicago in a league-wide article naming this player for every team.

The point of all of this praise for Bears rookies is what happened last year and what it all suggests. Last season, Pro Football Focus chose draft picks Jaquan Brisker and Braxton Jones, as well as undrafted free agent Jack Sanborn as members of its all-rookie team.

They also had extensive use and late improvement from cornerback Kyler Gordon as a rookie.

The Bears, under Ryan Poles, have become a team drafting well and getting immediate use from players. It's why they brought Poles to Chicago.

Ryan Pace initially showed some ability to do this and, to be fair, his 2020 draft class gained immediate impact players and even starters with Cole Kmet, Jaylon Johnson and Darnell Mooney.

However, the Bears don't have a single draft pick from the 2018, 2019 and 2015 classes made by Pace on the roster. They have one each from the 2016 and 2017 drafts by Pace. The inability to get more than a player or two contributing immediately combined with little staying power by rookies proved the underlying problem to the entire Pace tenure in Chicago. It was the reason they had to rely on free agents or expensive trades so much, and those deals were even bigger problems in the end because they cost the Bears draft picks to make.

Poles seems to be laying the right kind of foundation with immediate impact rookies. It needs to continue and success must come from early picks while being more pervasive. 

Pace had some success in his second draft class with Whitehair, Leonard Floyd and Jordan Howard, and third with Jackson and Tarik Cohen, but by and large there were too many misses, not enough immediate success and definitely not enough lasting success from his classes. It only seemed to get worse after 2017, with the exception of Roquan Smith and Justin Fields.

The base for this Bears rebuild seems on much more solid ground and players like Stevenson, Johnson, Wright and others are the reason.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven