Bear Digest

Where the Chicago Bears Tread Next in Attempt to Avoid Past Pitfalls

Bears GM Ryan Poles and coach Ben Johnson have identified where the team stands and where they go in the draft and free agency to avoid a sudden drop off.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears GM Ryan Poles speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine about where the team goes from a 12-7 season.
Bears GM Ryan Poles speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine about where the team goes from a 12-7 season. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The Bears are in an altered state as they approach this NFL free agency period and the draft.

It's what happens when you go from being one of the league's worst teams to one of the top eight. The transition needs to be handled correctly or they run the risk of suffering the fate of the last two winning Bears teams. In 2010 and 2018 they enjoyed success and rapidly fell off the next season.

Falling off had its roots within their poor drafting, but it is sustained  success GM Ryan Poles cited as the organization's goal back when he hired Ben Johnson as coach.

After the Bears lost on the double-doink in the 2018 playoffs, their next three drafts included 19 players. The only ones still with the team are Cole Kmet and Jaylon Johnson.

Their 2019 draft, right after that division title, included David Montgomery, Riley Ridley, Duke Shelley, Kerrith Whyte Jr. and Stephen Denmark. None made it to second contracts in Chicago and only Montgomery could be termed an NFL success. In 2011, after making the NFC Championship Game, their next two first-round picks came later in Round 1 and they took Gabe Carimi at No. 29 and Shea McClellin at No. 19. They weren't exactly successes.

The seeds for destruction with any NFL team lies in poor drafting and it was sewn for the Bears in their draft failure right after their success.

Identifying where Bears stand

The entire process of avoiding this again begins with identifying where they stand exactly with their personnel and then what they can anticipate when they have the chance to acquire players in free agency and the draft.

When the season ended, coach Ben Johnson made it sound as if  they must start all over now and hadn't accomplished anything. This appears to have been misinterpreted or mis-stated, and he was referring, instead, to their mental approach last season rather than the structure or talent itself.

"Yeah, just look across the league in the last, forever, the moment you get comfortable and think you can take success from one year and just apply it to the next, you can be in for a rude awakening," Poles said. "The mindset that we have to have is starting fresh, rebuilding the foundation that we had, and then improving where we need to improve, specifically where our struggles are.

"If we have that mindset, we'll be good. If the mindset is, we'll be good just because we were good last year, I think you're setting yourself up for failure. The work that guys put in, their coaching put in, the front office, our whole organization, we have to really exceed that to be even better than what we were last year. There's gonna be challenges—I think I said it a few years ago, something will happen that we're not planning for that we have to adjust and adapt for. Sometimes you're healthy most of the season, sometimes you're injured, how you adapt to that. Every season is unique. I think what Ben was doing was establishing the mindset that we need to get back to work in order to get where we need to go."

Johnson was referring to the work ethic and team-first mentality they built, and not specifically personnel, but there will need to be changes to assure continued success.

"I wish there was some magic stick you could just float on out there to make that happen and yet, you know, we had a lot of high character players that they came together and they wanted what was best for the team and for their buddies," Johnson said. "That's a hard thing to replicate as I mentioned.

"We have to do what is best for the team and as we  stack back up the 90-man roster again. We've got numerous holes to fill and I know Ryan and I are committed to making it the most competitive roster we can."

The problem in finding talent

The personnel aspect can continue from their stepping off point, and where they go with their draft is critical to that continued construction. It is going to be different because, just like it was after 2010 and 2018, because they are drafting back at the end of each round.

Talent doesn't leap out at personnel people from so late in Round 1 and subsequent rounds.

"Yeah, I think if you look at some late-round action, historically I think you want to  just stay disciplined with taking good football players," Poles said. "I think you can take a little risk and you can go get a flashy guy that may not be the wiring in terms of culture fit, isn’t the right thing to do. You take a chance there. Or he flashes or they’re a young player and you’re going to project this crazy growth."

Poles cited examples of teams who repeatedly drafted  in this area 

"I think taking good football players at 25, I think back to the Steelers, I think back to the Ravens and some of these teams that just were able to put really good rosters together and draft well late," Poles said. "Those guys aren’t sexy. They’re just good, hearty football players.

"So, that’s what we’re going to focus on. I think that will put our team in the best  position to be successful."

Now the focus becomes which players exactly are capable of fitting this description, and drafting or signing them with a limited salary cap.

With success comes continued progress from where they left off. With failure comes what happened to the Bears under different general managers in 2011 and 2019.

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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.