Bear Digest

What Ryan Poles' ledger for Bears drafts and trades clearly shows

Ryan Poles' sudden reversal of success at using free agency since Ben Johnson arrived is clear and he'll need to achieve something similar with the draft and draft trades.
Gene Chamberlain|
Jaquan Brisker and a much cleaner salary cap situation were the rewards reaped by trading Khalil Mack in 2022.
Jaquan Brisker and a much cleaner salary cap situation were the rewards reaped by trading Khalil Mack in 2022. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Bears GM Ryan Poles spent free agency making positive use of his new partnership with coach Ben Johnson.

It's the only way to explain how his activity took on such a positive tone when past free agency moves he made either amounted to little or turned to disaster.

It's enough to think he'll somehow earn that contract extension, but far too soon to make such a commitment. That's because free agency and the way he managed the salary cap during it is only a small part  of what a GM does.

Still to come is the mainstay of all GMs, the NFL draft.

The ability to make trades usually comes closely tied to the draft, although this year it also carried over to free agency.

Based on Poles' past as a GM on draft day, he'll need to lean on Johnson here, too, because he's not above water when it comes to his picks.

Using a quick rating system, here's how his picks have turned out.

The Draft

Gems

None

Solid Success

  • CB Kyler Gordon, second round 2022
  • S Jaquan Brisker, second round 2022
  • T Darnell Wright, first round 2023
  • P Tory Taylor, fourth round 2024

Steals

  • T Braxton Jones, fifth round 2022

Trending Positive

  • QB Caleb Williams, first round 2024
  • WR Rome Odunze, first round 2024

Useful Addition

  • S Elijah Hicks, seventh round 2022
  • RB Roschon Johnson, fourth round 2023
  • DT Gervon Dexter, second round 2023
  • CB Terell Smith, fifth round 2023

Foggy

  • OT Kiran Amegadjie, third round 2024
  • DE Austin Booker, fifth round 2024

Trending poorly

  • DT Zacch Pickens, third round 2023
  • LB Noah Sewell, fifth round 2022
  • WR Tyler Scott, fourth round 2023
  • CB Tyrique Stevenson, second round 2023
  • C Doug Kramer, sixth round 2022

Discard Pile

  • P Trenton Gill, seventh round 2022
  • OL Zachary Thomas, sixth round 2022

Miss

  • DE Dominique Robinson, fifth round 2022
  • G Ja'Tyre Carter, seventh round 2022
  • RB Trestan Ebner, sixth round 2022
  • S Kendall Williamson, seventh round 2023
  • DT Travis Bell, seventh round 2023

Crashed and burned

  • WR Velus Jones, third round 2022

You can debate Braxton Jones until your face turns blue but you're wrong if you're calling him a wasted pick or failure. No one expects to get a fifth-round starting left tackle out of an FCS school, one graded out by a major independent rating system (PFF) in the top end of the league two straight years and in the top five for ESPN run block win rate. He definitely could be replaced by a better player, but finding someone that effective for so little is a definite coup.

Putting Taylor in the success category isn't jumping the gun because he was a more effective all-around punter as a rookie than any Bears punter in their history. A fourth-rounder might have been early to take him but there were rumblings afterward of at least two teams looking to take him in Round 5, including a division rival.

Wright or Jalen Carter? That isn't the point here. Wright by himself is a success story already. Of course Carter would have been exactly what the Bears' defense needed and the reason they didn't take him—the off-field red flag didn't make him a good fit for that Bears locker room—looks flimsy now after the coaching staff and the locker room combined to make a complete mess last year. All that aside, it doesn't make Wright himself less of a draft pick.

Anyone who classifies Amegadjie yet as a failure is the kind of person who throws the baby out with the bath water. Obviously he had no chance last year at all.

Players like Johnson, Scott, Sewell, Pickens and Stevenson have situated themselves in shaded spots but can still come over to the light this year.

Robinson technically has that opportunity, too, but after three years it's pretty apparent it's a dud.

Trading

Poles' trading has ranged all over the board with more tremendous success than his drafting but also more embarrassing failure.

He has been like a modern power hitter toting his launch angle to the batter's box and searching for that late-inning home run.

Here are how his moves rated in a similar classification system to the draft ledger.

A Master Stroke

  • The Trade. The first pick of the 2023 draft (Bryce Young) to Carolina for DJ Moore, Carolina's first-rounder which was used for Darnell Wright, a second-round pick traded later to Jacksonville, a 2024 first-round pick that was later used for Caleb Williams, and a 2025 second-rounder they'll use in April.
  • Traded 2026 fourth-round pick to Chiefs for G Joe Thuney.

Winning Move

  • Khalil Mack to Chargers for second-rounder used for Jaquan Brisker, 2022
  • Traded 2025 sixth-rounder to Rams for G Jonah Jackson.
  • Moved back 20 spots in Round 5 to 168, drafted Braxton Jones and acquired and extra sixth-rounder at 203. Used it on RB Trestan Ebner, a wasted pick.
  • Traded sixth-rounder in 2023 to Chargers for pick Nos. 254 and 255 in seventh round and drafted safety Elijah Hicks and punter Trenton Gill.
  • Traded Robert Quinn to Eagles for a fourth-round pick and used it later on WR Tyler Scott.
  • Traded back 12 spots in Round 4 of 2023 and drafted RB Roschon Johnson in Round 4 while getting a fifth-rounder back from the Saints to use at No. 165 for CB Terell Smith.
  • Traded Cleveland 2025 sixth-round pick for DT Chris Williams and 2025 seventh-round pick.
  • Traded second-round pick for DE Montez Sweat.

Shuffling

  • Moved back 16 picks from Round 5 to No. 166 for a sixth-rounder at No. 207 and took Kramer.
  • Traded ninth pick in Round 1 for 2023 to Eagles for the 10th pick and took Wright, acquiring a fourth-round pick in 2024 in exchange. They later used that pick for Taylor, their punter.

Wasteful

  • Traded fourth-round pick in 2024 to Chargers for WR Keenan Allen
  • Traded up five spots in the second round from 61 to 56 and took CB Tyrique Stevenson, giving up pick No. 61 and No. 136 to Jaguars.
  • Moved back from 166 in Round 5 to 174 in Round 5 for an extra seventh-rounder and drafted Robinson and Carter.
  • Traded LB Roquan Smith in 2022 for second-round and fifth-round picks and LB A.J. Smith. The second-rounder was used on Dexter and the fifth-rounder for Sewell.
  • Traded 2024 sixth-round pick to Miami for OL Dan Feeney.
  • Traded a 2024 fifth-round pick for G/C Ryan Bates.
  • Traded RB Khalil Herbert for a seventh-round pick.

Pocket Picked

  • Sixth-rounder acquired from Pittsburgh for QB Justin Fields
  • Traded 2025 sixth-round pick to Seahawks for DE Darrell Taylor
  • Traded 2024 seventh-round pick in 2022 for WR N'Keal Harry.
  • Traded 2023 second-round pick to Pittsburgh in 2022 for WR Chase Claypool

When Poles traded Fields, he really had no option at that point other than to take sixth-rounder and it made the pocket picking all the more embarrassing.

The move for Mack might bother many but it was a positive because of the need to get their salary cap in order for both that season and future moves. Obviously, getting rid of Mack in and of itself would have been a terrible failure. However, very little that followed would have been possible without that move.

The Sweat trade has been slammed by some but the best second-round edge they could have used the pick on in the last draft based on sack output in their rookie year was Chris Braswell, who had 1 1/2 sacks.

The trade with Carolina, when Poles stole so much, looks a little less brilliant when it's Tyrique Stevenson they used the second-round pick on but the idea of getting a second-rounder in the trade is what this judgment is on and not necessarily the player drafted. That pick under the draft categories.

Bottom Line

It looks like Johnson's influence and also his coaching staff can guide Poles the right way based on free agency.

If they continue this working relationship with the personnel department in the draft process, the obvious negatives reflected by these picks and other moves Poles has made in the past can be reversed.

If not, it's easy to see which way this can all go for the Bears GM in a hurry.

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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.