Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson are Facing a Major Divide After a Lackluster Draft Grade

The Chicago Bears' grade point average from the consensus of analysts is in and it's a pretty good indication of how polarizing the team's draft was.

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles. | Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

It's fairly safe to say that the Chicago Bears' 2026 NFL Draft class has created a divide in the fan base.

On one side, you have those who like the long-term vision of the draft class that also fits what head coach Ben Johnson wants to do on offense. After all, Johnson was the catalyst to the Bears' turnaround last season and deserves to be able to shape how Chicago moves with its roster.

Then, there are others who are frustrated with a class that may not contribute that much this coming season for a team that has legit Super Bowl aspirations in 2026. Those same fans are particularly frustrated with the lack of an edge rusher selection, and with the fact that Chicago didn't add a defensive lineman until Round 6.

The overall divide in the fan base is perfectly spelled out in the grade point average that NFL analyst Rene Bugler compiled for every team. The GPA is based on 24 grades of experts from different media outlets.

When it comes to the Bears, they fall in the bottom half of the GPA rankings at No. 20 with a total mark of 2.82. Chicago's best grade was an "A" and it's worst grade was a "C-." Chicago only had two grades of "A-" or better.

Despite the lackluster mark, the Bears had the second-highest GPA in the division behind only the Detroit Lions, so there's that. Chicago ranked ninth in the entire NFC.

What's wrong with the Bears' draft class?

Stanford tight end Sam Roush. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The biggest gripe with the Bears' draft class is the fact that the team didn't take an edge rusher, which was arguably its biggest need. That was a common complaint among experts.

Interior defensive line was right up there, also, yet no selection came at that position until Round 6, when the team drafted the uber-athletic Jordan van den Berg.

Another issue is the possibility that Chicago won't have many first-year contributors from this class. Sam Roush is headed for a TE3 role, at best, Logan Jones may not start if he can't beat out the veteran Garrett Bradbury at center, and general manager Ryan Poles seemingly tempered expectations with Zavion Thomas because of the difficulty with learning Johnson's offense.

"Given what Ryan Poles said about Zavion Thomas and the WR3 role on the Bears offense, it sounds like the team doesn't expect for Thomas to have a role outside of special teams early on," ESPN's Courtney Cronin said.

Adding to all that, all three of those selections were considered reaches by some analysts, so take that for what it's worth.

It goes without saying a sixth-round pick like van den Berg may not even make the roster, let alone see the field, and Keyshaun Elliott has a hill to climb to see snaps at linebacker.

On the bright side, we did love the selections of Dillon Thieneman and Malik Muhammad that bring some much-needed help to the secondary. Thienemen will definitely be a Week 1 starter and Muhammad has the chops to start on the boundary right away.

Of course, it's far too early to tell if any of this will be accurate and we can only guess at this point. We certainly don't blame anyone who is optimistic, but when you piece it all together, it's fair to be concerned about the Bears' draft class in the early going.