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Ryan Poles' Bears Draft Just Made Signing Veteran Edge Rusher Critical

Incredibly, the Bears GM could't find a single defensive lineman to pick in the first six rounds after they needed help badly at tackle and edge rusher.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears sixth-round defensive tacke Jordan van den Berg of Georgia Technology rushes the passer against VMI.
Bears sixth-round defensive tacke Jordan van den Berg of Georgia Technology rushes the passer against VMI. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Bears GM Ryan Poles is absorbing the predictable social media/fan beating for not drafting an edge rusher or a single defensive lineman until South African native Jordan van den Berg in Round 6.

There was sound logic behind some of what they did, but that doesn't provide a pass rush.  The key point in this draft when their hopes for an edge fell apart was Round 2, when they balked at moving up.

"When we made that turn into (round) two, we had a good sense through our research that that was going to be a hot spot at the very top of two," Poles said. "It wasn't really possible to get up that high without giving up a ton and at the end of the day, we would just follow the board.” 

When they went through each round and couldn't come up with a single defensive end because the board didn't match up, you'd have to say Poles should avoid going to Las Vegas or a riverboat casino at all costs. What are the odds? Some defensive end had to pop up somewhere to take.

They almost seemed to go out of their way not to select an edge with a meaningful pick. Considering Poles was an offensive lineman himself, maybe he has something against pass rushers. Yah think?

If the grades didn't fit the pick then you trade, but he couldn't even find a way to make it match even while moving around the draft board with deals the final two days.

What they got is nice but...

Instead of giving up either their extra second-round pick or a third-round pick and getting one of the better defensive linemen, the Bears opted to draft a center who probably isn't starting until 2027, then traded back into the third round where Poles traditionally has had trouble only to take a third tight end and a gadget type of receiver who Poles admitted will need work. 

Wouldn't trading up and giving away a pick have better suited their needs for this season?   Those are luxury type picks for a team with a bad need on the defensive line.

An extra defensive end to pressure the passer would have been fairly easy to select by giving up the pick in Round 2 or 3.

T.J. Parker went at No. 35, R. Mason Howard wasn't a Bears system fit and went at No. 8 in the round or No. 40. Cashius Howell was the next pick and Christen Miller the 10th pick and 42nd overall. After that, though, they could have moved up for a third-round pick. 

The next several edge picks were players who really fit the Dennis Allen defensive end mold with Derrick Moore at No. 44 and Zion Young at No. 45. The Bears would have needed to give up their own third-round pick at No. 89 and something else, or even the 60th pick in Round 2 in order to get up ahead of those picks. That is, provided they could even find teams willing to move back. 

They finally turned to defense the third day and it's cornerback Malik Muhammad and linebacker Keyshaun Elliott rather than a defensive end or tackle. They didn't get around to a defensive lineman at all until No. 213 in Round 6, surrendering both seventh-round picks to move up for van den Berg. He had 6 1/2 career sacks and 20 tackles for loss and was also a rugby player.

Maybe they should have traded for Maxx Crosby

Maybe an even better option than all of this would have been never using the first-round pick by trading it for Maxx Crosby. Then they would have lost at least a first and a second, though, and the Ravens had initially acquired Crosby for two firsts before rejecting the trade. That may have been too steep a price.  

Poles is doubling down on his signing of Dayo Odeyingbo from last year, and also 2025 draft pick Shemar Turner as players who can complement edges Austin Booker and Montez Sweat. He could be putting too much faith in two players who suffered bad injuries, Odeyingbo a midseason Achilles tear and Turner a midseason ACL tear.  

"At the defensive line position, Books keeps coming along, we have Dayo, Sweat, Shemar, feel good about those guys," Poles said. "Obviously, we have one more day. So, we continue to add. But with what that group is, and what they've been coming into and we feel like there's some developmental upside and like I said yesterday, I think year two in the system, we'll be able to take the next step." 

It's rather obvious at this point how much the Bears could benefit from signing a defensive end free agent like former Saints edge rusher Cameron Jordan or Jadeveon Clowney.  

It seems Poles is putting a lot of faith in players to bounce back who had the kind of injuries requiring more time for recovery. He's also putting too much faith in players who didn't really produce. Turner didn't get much chance as a rookie while Odeyingbo was struggling to create pressure before his injury. 

Enjoy Seeing Dani Dennis-Sutton in Green Bay

Maybe the kicker to it all came on Saturday when he wouldn't trade up to draft Penn State edge Dani Dennis-Sutton, who fell to the fourth round. He'll get to see Dennis-Sutton plenty, though, since the Packers drafted him to pair with Micah Parsons. 

"It's hard to go into a draft and just start picking at your needs and hopping around the board and letting all the good guys go by just because of that," Poles said. "That doesn't play out very well in the long haul.  

"So, we stuck to the board. Every class is going to be different and when you're at the back of the round, it's a little bit different than being at the top five, top 10 picks and I'll trade that any day.” 

Poles just wouldn't trade up to get a defensive lineman, and after two years of waiting to find someone more impactful at rushing the passer in the draft, he probably does deserve all the criticism he's receiving.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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