Bear Digest

Four Positive Takes from GM Ryan Poles' Evaluation of 2024

Analysis: The numerous negative aspects of the season-ending Bears press conference are obvious and being criticized or lampooned but there were actual positives involved.

Gene Chamberlain

Rome Odunze beats Brian Branch for a reception against the Lions at Soldier Field.
Rome Odunze beats Brian Branch for a reception against the Lions at Soldier Field. / Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images
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After gashing and dissecting Ryan Poles said, what Kevin Warren said and what George McCaskey said, it's easy to come away with a sour outlook on the future of the franchise and their chances of finding the right head coach.

Still, it's not as if this outlook came void of positive news or promises.

GM Ryan Poles carried the positive messages. In some cases, it meant reversing earlier actions or trends.

In others, it means fixing problems they saw but felt unable to address.

There is no doubt Poles made mistakes like hiring Matt Eberflus. However, if they've recognized the error of their ways and actually do come up with a viable head coach, the outlook doesn't need to be so negative.

Here are the most positives to come out of what Poles said

1. Offensive Line

Although he seemed to hedge at times and pointed out problems with Caleb Williams getting rid of the ball or running into sacks, Poles did acknowledge the area where he is supposed to have great expertise is lacking and needs to be upgraded.

"It's a place we need to improve as we move forward," Poles said. "Obviously, you don’t want your quarterback hit that much."

This shouldn't be surprising when everyone realizes the Bears' problem is on the offensive line. NFL Mock Draft Data Base records mock drafts on the internet and the consensus Bears first-round pick at No. 10 as of Wednesday is LSU's Will Campbell. He is the pick on 34% of 521 mock drafts the website tracks.

Poles isn't saying specifically which spots drastically need upgrading but guard definitely stands out when Teven Jenkins is an often-injured free agent and the right guard spot has been manned by a player brought in as a swing tackle, Matt Pryor. Also, center Coleman Shelton's performance was middle of the pack according to his Pro Football Focus grade. He was the 16th highest-graded center. It doesn't mean you can't get better. Left tackle most certainly can be upgraded but isn't terrible.

"I would say, in a bubble, philosophically, you would do that," Poles said of upgrading the lien. "I also think you have to look at the situations in terms of when you go through the draft is a trade deal what’s best available. Also, in free agency we are looking at a board of what’s there. Just because it’s the philosophy doesn’t mean that every year there are answers at those positions to take. Obviously, I believe in that."

With the 10th pick in the draft, with the sixth-most effective cap available under the salary cap, with two second-round picks and a third-rounder, the Bears would be able to upgrade the offensive line without a problem. Their most pressing need is on the offensive line but it's not the only one.

Still, it's encouraging to hear Poles admit the group of blockers had flaws when that's his baby, so to speak, and he could easily be overdefensive.

2. Pass Rusher

Part of the exit interviews involved what Poles described as a "good conversation" with Montez Sweat.

"I know he's disappointed in himself and wants to continue to get better," Poles said.

Sweat was unavailable in the locker room when players cleaned out their lockers on Monday but Poles relayed some of what was discussed.

"I know, and he knows, he's capable of much more," Poles said.

Sweat made 5 1/2 sacks to lead the team. That's an awfully low total for a season. He made more sacks in nine 2023 games for them and also more in eight Washington Commanders games than he had for this 17-game season.

Several times throughout the season Sweat blamed some of his problem on the amount of chipping he was absorbing—backs or receivers coming at him to provide double team help to the tackle before going out on a pass route—was a problem. He wanted coaches to come up with chipping solutions.

Apparently they never sufficiently solved the problem.

Poles agreed.

"When we looked at some of the chip numbers and the double teams, he did get a fair share of those, too," Poles said.

Poles realizes the solution.

"The way you defeat that is to continue to add talent to create more one-on-one matchups," Poles said.

The problem with recognizing this is it was apparent to everyone they needed a higher quality defensive end on the other side than Darrell Taylor, Jake Martin and rookie Austin Booker. Yet, this is what they settled for after the attempt to bring in Matthew Judon was thwarted.

So put this need down for the draft, or free agency, as well.

3. Process

Poles made a special point of indicating they need to worry about how they do things in practice rather than just end results. Players repeatedly had problems in training camp and OTA practices with simple things like false starts, jumping offsides or lining up incorrectly.

Coaches said the problem was solved. They blamed some of it on Caleb Williams' inexperience with their cadence. But not all of it was on Williams or even on offense. This seemed to stop briefly, then picked up again after they had a practice with the Bengals at camp and when the regular season started it all surfaced again.

They were tied for the league lead in lining up offsides offensively. They were 11th in offsides. They tied for league lead in illegal substitutions. They were fifth in illegal formations. The 28 false starts they committed tied for the third most, one off the league leaders (Dallas, Tennessee).

All of these issues traced back to a lack of discipline that wasn't addressed in camp and practice properly and getting a coach who will demand more discipline from them is the answer. Players have even said this.

It's almost comical that Matt Eberflus came in touting smart play as part of his so-called "HITS principle," then they played like dummies.

They need to worry about the process and not just the end result of games or even plays because it really makes a difference in goal-line or short-yardage situations.

4. Tip of the Iceberg

Although there are numerous players who haven't developed from his draft, Poles could point at three early picks the last two drafts as being among those who impressed him. That would be Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze and Darnell Wright. He also mentioned Gervon Dexter, but even Dexter admitted he needs to improve.

"I would say stay consistent," he said. "I think I started off pretty hot. I want to keep that rolling next year. Just stay hot the whole year."

Wright was ranked 16th out of 141 tackles graded by Pro Football Focus in his second year.

Odunze disappointed some of the fantasy type but he still finished sixth in his draft class among wide receivers in catches (54) and fifth in yardage (734) but also had to overcome the problems of a rookie passer, competition from two high-level veteran receivers in pass routes and was in a generally dysfunctional attack. The most encouraging thing was his 72.2% catch/targets ratio, third best in the league among all wide receivers. When he got the chance, he delivered.

Of course, Williams is the most encouraging part of it. Finally getting that comeback win over the Packers after he had put them in position for one several other times was huge.

"From a quarterback position–again, he hasn’t even hit close to his ceiling, and he hit a lot of milestones that have not been hit here in a very long time," Poles said.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher 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.