Bear Digest

The Lesson on Combine Results Bears and Ryan Poles Should Know Well

Players like Joe Thuney, Austin Booker and Kyle Monangai make a statement about dangers of relying too much on speed and strength results at the combine.
Gene Chamberlain|
Defensive end Dominique Robinson makes a tackle for a loss on Saints tight end Taysom Hill last season.
Defensive end Dominique Robinson makes a tackle for a loss on Saints tight end Taysom Hill last season. | Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

In this story:

Chicago Bears

A starter for the Bears ranked in the bottom 18% at all combines for weight among players at his position.

He's a lineman, too, and his arm length was bottom 10% for players at his position, and his hand size ranked in the smallest 30%.

And yet, earlier this month Joe Thuney still won the first NFL Protector of the Year Award. He might be in Canton someday, considering how many Super Bowl winners he blocked for in his career.

It's still football and you have to actually play the game. It's not a track meet or weightlifting competition. Measuring and testing at the NFL Scouting Combine matters, and at some positions it helps to catch the attention of personnel people who may not have otherwise noticed some players.

However, some personnel people might attach more significance to assorted combine measurements over others.

With GM Ryan Poles, it's apparent combine performance has mattered in terms of athleticism, but last year more than any other year showed it can't be an end all.

40 times do matter for all positions

Bears receivers are not slow, but they lack anyone at any position who had a faster combine 40 time than their fastest defensive lineman. This includes wide receivers and running backs.

Montez Sweat, who is 6-foot-6, 270 pounds, ran a phenomenal 4.42-second 40-yard dash that was officially recorded as 4.41 before he was drafted 26th overall in 2019 by Washington.

Ryan Poles traded for receiver DJ Moore, who ran 4.42. He drafted Luther Burden III, who ran the 40 the same time as Sweat. He also drafted Rome Odunze, who ran 4.45.

This is not to say Poles drafts all slow receivers. He drafted two who ran faster 40 times. They just weren't good enough at also playing the game. Velus Jones ran 4.31 and Tyler Scott 4.44 but both wound up last year on practice squads, Jones in Seattle and Scott with the Rams.

Perhaps drafting a faster, effective pass catcher should be a goal at some point.

Speed for O-linemen

Poles looks for running ability but also athleticism with his offensive linemen.

Part of the reason Thuney has been so effective in his career is speed. His 4.95-second 40-yard time was top 3% all time at combines for college tackles coming into the combine. His 1.71-second split was top 7% and his time of 7.47 seconds for the 3-cone drill was top 10%.

The same thing was present in Drew Dalman, their Pro Bowl center. He ran top 12% for centers in 5.05 seconds. He also was top 9% in vertical leap at his position at 33 inches.

Darnell Wright flew in the 40 for a 330-pounder but he also blocks well enough that he's second-team All-Pro.

Some might wonder what Poles saw in Braxton Jones, who struggled greatly last season after his leg injuries. People will forget that Jones ran 4.97 seconds for the 40, almost as fast as Thuney. He was a good enough athlete that his broad jump (108 inches) was in the top 24%. Jones also showed he could play, until his injuries.

Same on D-line

Although Dominique Robinson seems to have washed out in his four seasons, it's easy to see why Poles thought he might have something in a fifth-rounder. Robinson's vertical leap of 41 inches was the top 2% at position. He had a top 27% 40-yard dash in 4.72 and top 20% with a broad jump at 10-foot-1. But he also was a former receiver in college who had played only one year of defensive and 3 1/2 sacks with seven quarterback hits in four seasons says they should worry first about an ability to play their position before getting the supreme athlete.

In Austin Booker, they gave up a little of that athleticism with a bit slower (4.79) speed and only a 32 1/2-inch leap, in the same round of the draft. In  season and a half, he has 2 1/2 more sacks and 10 more quarterback hits than Robinson had in four years. Plus, he came on strong at the end of his second season, which lends itself to optimism for 2026.

Running back snafu

Poles drafted running back Trestan Ebner in 2022, a Baylor back who ran 4.43 seconds in the 40. He was selected in Round 6 and carried 24 times in his 17-game career. Last year, Poles drafted Kyle Monangai in Round 7 after a 4.6-second 40. Monangai ranked in the top half of all running backs at combins  in only one category, his 10-yard split in the 40 (top 32% at 1.54). Yet, anyone who saw Monangai's college film and saw him knock the snot out of tacklers as a runner with anger knew who was a better back.

In 1996 at the old Halas Hall, former coach Dave Wannstedt was talking to a group of us reporters about how he was certain they got the right edge rusher in John Thierry at No. 11 overall, a year when Simeon Rice of Illinois had been No. 3.

Wannstedt based this entirely on a great three-cone drill performance by Thierry. Of course, Thierry made 12 1/2 Bears sacks for his career. Rice had 122 career sacks.

The bottom line from all of these comparisons is the importance of athleticism. If they actually can play the position, then the measurables are good gauges.

Otherwise, they're just numbers on a sheet of paper or a computer screen. So take all of the performances at this week's combine with a grain of salt, or look at the numbers only after knowing if the guy can play the game.

Bears 40 times

Offense

WR DJ Moore 4.42

WR Rome Odunze 4.45

WR Luther Burden III 4.41

TE Cole Kmet 4.7

TE Colston Loveland dnr

T Ozzy Trapilo 5. 21

C Drew Dalman 5.11

G Jonah Jackson 5.23

G Joe Thuney 4.95

T Darnell Wright 5.01

RB D'Andre Swift 4.48

RB Kyle Monangai 4.6

QB Caleb Williams dnr

Defense

CB Jaylon Johnson 4.5

CB Tyrique Stevenson 4.45

CB Kyler Gordon 4.52

S Jaquan Brisker 4.49

S Kevin Byard dnr

LB T.J. Edwards dnr

LB Tremaine Edmunds 4.54

LB Noah Sewell 4.64

DE Montez Sweat 4.41

DT Gervon Dexter 4.88

DT Grady Jarrett 5.06

DE Austin Booker 4.79

dnr-did not run

More Chicago Bears News

X: BearsOnSI

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
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.