Bear Digest

Second-guessing Bears GM Ryan Poles — here's who he could have taken

Second guessers may want to save this link for future reference after some of the numerous running backs and edge rushers the Bears passed on turn into stars.
Gene Chamberlain|
Speedy Texas back Jaydon Blue is one of the players the Bears decided against drafting when they needed a back.
Speedy Texas back Jaydon Blue is one of the players the Bears decided against drafting when they needed a back. | Ricardo B. Brazziell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Every year teams leave themselves open to second-guessing in the draft.

Nothing the Bears did left them open to more second-guessing than the way they refused to take  a running back because those they had graded high enough kept going right before they picked. So they initiated tradebacks in some cases or took players at other positions.

This is always an easy out for general managers because the public doesn't get to see their draft board and doesn't really know how they had the players graded, not that anyone thinks they're lying. However, transparency is lacking here.

Poles described what happened to them as "pockets," although it looked to the common observers like he had his hands in his pockets and was looking in another direction as running backs they could have drafted were selected when he could have had those players simply by moving up.

"Every draft has just pockets that you just don't fall into," Poles said. "Again, if you're going to be disciplined, you're going to let the (draft big) board dictate how you do things and it just happens that way. Because of that, you wind up in some really cool situations in acquiring talented players who might come from a different position than you maybe would have liked them to."

It's a convenient thing to say when a team winds up with positions like wide receiver or tight end when it appears they already have talent there, or when they pick a cornerback in Round 5 and already seemed set at the position.

One man's pocket is another man's inability to find what they need.

The problem with all of this is people tend to forget over time what they could have had with a simple move up to take a player.

They won't forget if they save this link because here's who the Bears could have taken with a slight move, or if they hadn't been busy using the draft order like an elevator in a high rise instead of just staying put and picking.

Round 1

It's difficult to hit them for not moving up five spots to draft Ashton Jeanty. The cost of moving up five spots at this point in the draft is really steep. Moving back to get Omarion Hampton wasn't an option. No one moved up in a trade again until No. 25.

However, the second-guesser here is Colston Loveland instead of tight end Tyler Warren, who is the better blocker and has complete athletic versatility. He also didn't have a shoulder surgery like Loveland.

Will they have Loveland at all for any of the offseason or training camp? We don't really know.

Last year everyone thought Kiran Amegadjie would be available for practice at some point and he wasn't until the season was about to begin. It cost him.

The other second-guesser here is Georgia defensive end Mykel Williams, who went the next pick after the Bears took their Idaho fence builder. They could have used a first-round edge rusher, no question. This one becomes a matter of where they graded players and Ben Johnson wanting a move-tight end more.

Also, man-beast Kenneth Grant from Michigan was available, and later they took a defensive tackle.

Round 2

Trading up to start Day 2 could have allowed them a choice between running backs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson of Ohio State, who went 36th and 38th. They stayed in place and then took a player whose position wasn't needed but he has great talent. That's receiver Luther Burden II from Missouri. Remember the backs they could have had simply by initiating a trade up around No. 35.

Burden might make them forget all of this but he's going to need to be really good to have a chance to stand out considering all of the receiver targets they now have.

The next pocket came after dealing away No. 41. They traded it down when neither of the backs were available and the move did net them 56 and 62. 

Instead of drafting tackle Ozzy Trapilo, they could have drafted running back R.J. Harvey from Tennessee. This is a straight up grade issue. They had Trapilo graded higher and took him. Remember this tradeoff when Harvey is piling up rushing yards for Denver and Sean Payton, who usually has been a good judge of backfield talent. The Broncos traded into the spot and took Harvey. The Bears might not even get Trapilo on the field if Braxton Jones is healed up.

  1. Round 1
  2. Round 2
  3. Round 3
  4. Round 4
  5. Round 5
  6. Rounds 6-7
  7. More Chicago Bears News

At 62 from the trade, the second-guessing doesn't take on the form of a running back unless you wanted Kaleb Johnson from Iowa. He didn't go until No. 83 in Round 3, and a 23-pick difference shows no one else thought he was worth taking late in Round 2, either.

However, the Bears did have that defensive line need and in the future they're going to need a safety.

They selected Texas A&M's Shemar Turner No. 62 and it's not really clear whether he's a tackle or edge because he has done both. In fact, his bigger sack season came as a junior on the edge. They could have drafted Tennessee defensive tackle monster Omarr Norman-Lott, who had a 30 visit to Halas Hall. They could have drafted safety Andrew Mukuba from Texas, another player they reportedly looked at closely.

Round 3

They took Round 3 out of play by dealing away the 72nd pick in their second-round trade back. The 72nd pick they traded away was eventually Landon Jackson, a defensive end from Arkansas who went to Buffalo.

In between 62 and 72, edge rusher Ashton Gillotte from Louisville was also taken. Remember those two names.

Round 4

It's back to the backfield and the pockets. Often teams make moves after the break in days from Round 3 to Round 4. They come out, trade up using Day 3 picks, and get a player still on the board who they need.

Human wrecking ball Cam Skattebo and Bhayshul Tuten of Virginia Tech were right there to be plucked to play in the backfield with a slight trade up. The Bears stayed put and didn't want to get into that pocket. Both players were taken before the 109th pick.

So Poles traded back again, from 109 to 132, and gained a fifth-round pick (169). They really left themselves open to second-guessing on their draft board again because Georgia running back Trevor Ettienne went to the Cowboys at 114, USC's Woody Marks went to Houston at 116 and Auburn's Jarquez Hunter went to Auburn at 117. Tennessee's highly touted Dylan Sampson had fallen to here and was taken 126 by Cleveland.

That's a lot of running backs they missed out on by moving way back in Round 4.

A very promising safety prospect, Oklahoma's Billy Bowman, also went here at 118. Remember those names. Defensive ends went here, too: Central Arkansas' David Walker (Tampa Bay, 121), Ohio State's Jack Sawyer (Steelers, 123rd), Texas' Barryn Sorrell (Packers, 124th), South Carolina's Kyle Kennard (Chargers, 125th) all are edge rushers and the Bears never did draft an edge, unless they use Turner there.

So then at 132, after moving down, they drafted linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II, a fast player who they were criticized for taking. They could have stayed put and had any of those players previously mentioned at running back, safety or edge rusher between 109 and 132 and then they got Hyppolite after the trade back.

That 4.39-second speed for a linebacker better be pretty fast to have passed on all of that potential talent by moving back.

Round 5

Was Jordan James from Oregon the back the Bears wanted? He went at 147 to the 49ers, and the Bears then traded back again.

They could have taken Jaydon Blue, the speedy back from Texas who went to Dallas at No. 149. They could have taken DJ Giddens, the Kansas State back who went 151 to Indianapolis.

Instead, Poles picked up the phone again and went back—way, way back, as in next year.

He sent the 148th pick to the Rams for the 195th pick and a fourth-round pick in 2026.

No James, no Blue, no Giddens but next year they'll have a fourth-round pick. Considering they needed a back, that fourth-rounder in 2026 doesn't seem too important now.

Finally, at No. 169, they had a fifth-round pick and chose UTSA cornerback Zah Frazier. He's tall and fast and their DB coach Al Harris had picked him out of a crowd well in advance.

But he played at Texas-San Antonio, SIU and junior college and the Bears took him one pick ahead of Ohio State's cornerback Jordan Hancock and five ahead of Ohio State's other cornerback Denzel Burke. Let's see, national championship cornerbacks or the project from the directional school? Hmmm. Who do you want?

Rounds 6-7

Another group of backs went ahead of the 195th pick but at this point in the draft you're probably not trading up to get these players because of lack of compensation. No one really wants that 232nd pick in Round 7 and the 195th pick for some of these othe picks.

Oklahoma's Ollie Gordon (Miami, 179th), Kansas' Devin Neal (Saints, 184th), Michigan's Kalel Mullings (Dallas, 188th) and Texas Tech's Tahj Brooks (Cincinnati, 193rd) all were taken before the Bears picked Michigan State tackle/guard Luke Newman.

But 28 spots later in Round 7 Damien Martinez of Miami was taken by Seattle and at 228 Brashard Smith from SMU, a back who visited Halas Hall, was taken by Kansas City both before the Bears made Kyle Monangai the 22nd back picked in the draft.

Monangai has an awful lot of high Bears hopes resting on his shoulders considering he was the 232nd pick made in this draft.

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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.