Windy City Gridiron
Ryan Poles has ignored the offensive line for three years.
The NFL Combine is underway and both Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson addressed the media down in Indianapolis and both had plenty to say about building this roster for the 2025 season.
One thing that really jumped off the page to me was when Poles addressed the offensive line, he mentioned the left tackle position and talked about how there will be competition at the position.
Ryan Poles has had this job for 37 months. If the left tackle position isn’t settled for the 2025 season, that means that after three offseasons Poles has one of the five offensive line positions settled.
ONE.
The fact that we are here entering year four is infuriating.
When Ryan Poles was hired, he said that he would implement building from the inside out, meaning he would start by drafting talent in the trenches first and then start working on the skill positions.
He has not.
Do you realize that the highest drafted interior offensive linemen he’s taken in three drafts is Zach Thomas in 2022 with the 186th pick?
He has spent decently on one interior linemen. That, of course, being Nate Davis, who, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Dan Wiederer, the coaching staff told Poles not to draft him and he still committed $20 million guaranteed to him.
He committed a top ten pick to Darnell Wright in 2023. Wright has put together two strong seasons and seems poised to build on his young career and will eventually receive a second contract from the Chicago Bears.
That’s fantastic. But that’s it. That’s the only move he’s made that’s panned out.
It’s not just that Wright is the only actual building block on the offensive line, it’s that there has been so little effort to find any others.
Even the signing of Nate Davis two years ago, it’s not like top end linemen were getting $10 million a year back then. Davis was a middle of the road signing. There have been no day two picks spend on interior offensive linemen. A third round pick on a tackle isn’t exactly a major investment either, those don’t have a high hit rate either.
After three offseasons, Poles has not made one major free agent signing, and has made one major draft investment. How is that building from the inside out?
I know Ben Johnson is here and that the offensive line investment is coming this year. It will happen. I have no doubt. But it also doesn’t usually work to just buy an entire offensive line in one offseason either. If the Bears sign three interior offensive linemen (I expect two), one of them probably won’t work out. That’s the law of averages.
I think they probably spend heavy on two linemen and make a couple draft investments in the top four rounds. But why has it taken this long?
Why is it that it took a new coach who firmly believes in a...
