So there has been a lot of talk about our front office and what should happen in the offseason. The coaches are not good enough and probably should be gone. Eberflus has turned this defense around recently, but we haven’t been dominant especially against elite offenses and we still struggle with our oass defense. I think everyone knows how bad Getsy has been, so I won’t get to into that, but he has not been a good playcaller and doesn’t seem to play to his players strengths (for example throwing a screen to kmet with Scott blocking, mismanaging Fields, and not giving DJ moore more oppurtinities to be threatening after the catch).
What I don’t understand is why people are calling for Poles his job. He has made some mistakes and he has done some really good things and then some that fall somewhere in the middle. So i thought I’d put the good (positive), the bad (negative) and the inbetween (neutral) all in a overview and then you can decide dor yourself if this is a GM you want to build with.
Lets start with the positive
● Signing players to a fair market price (not overpaying). He has made a lot of good signings over the past 2 offseasons with fair or team friendly compensation. These signings in my opinion are:
– Nicholas Morrow signing (1yr/5M)
– Khari Blasingame signing (1yr/900k)
– TJ Edwards signing (3yr/19.5M)
– Andrew Billings signing (1yr/2.7M)
– D’onta Foreman signing (1yr/2M)
● He has also been in my opinion someone who has been good in the draft looking at the picks he has made:
2022
– Kyler Gordon (39) –> Arguably top 5 slot corner
– Braxton Jones (166) –> Major steal, with upside
2023
– Darnell Wright (10) –> Solid season with a lot of highs and lows, a lot of promise on tape
– Roschon Johnson (115) –> One of the best pass blocking backs in the league, looks like an allround RB, +cathing, +blocking and good power
– Terell Smith (165) –> Good depth and can start if needed
● Recognizing UDFA and waiver talent:
– Jack Sanborn (UDFA) –> Good starter incredible depth
– Tyson Bagent (UDFA) –> Good backup, young who will continue to develop
– Jaylon Jones (UDFA) –> Good backup who can start in the slot if needed
– Josh Blackwell (Waiver) –> Good special teamer and showed promise in limited snaps
– Armon Watts (Waiver) –> Was an okay player, but good depth if needed
– Quindell Johnson (Waiver) –> Good backup who can play in case of injuries
– Trent Taylor (Waiver) –> Reliable punt returner
● He also is willing to extend players who earned it while getting them on good deals:
– Cole Kmet (4yr/50M) –> Possible Pro Bowl
– Andrew Billings (2yr/8M) –> Good starter
– Montez Sweat (4yr/98M) –> Possible Pro bowl
– St. Brown (1yr/1.2M) –> Good WR 4, excellent runblocker
● He has made some good to great trades in his short time as GM:
– Carolina trade, getting DJ Moore, Darnell Wright, Tyrique Stevenson, most likely 1.1 pick next year and a 2nd in 2025
– Montez Sweat trade, a 2nd roundd for a pro bowl caliber DE who is starting his prime is good value.
● Lastly i huge positve for me is his business philosiphy. Poles has been excellent in managing Cap space and draft capital. He has made this team significantly younger and is building through the draft with smart FA signings. He spots talent even in UDFA and with waivers. And a think that I truely apreciate is his transparency, he is a straight shooter who doesn’t beat around the bush and always articulates his plans and reasoning well.
So he has done a lot of good things, but he also has some mistakes. So lets look at the negatives:
● The first negative was the Eberflus hire. Now to my understanding Poles had to pick between 1 out of 3 options chosen by McCaskey and Polian, so i would put an asterix behind this one
● The 2nd negative in my opinion is depriving Fields of talent in 2022. Yes i get we are in a rebuild, but Fields had nothing to work with and this most likely hampered his progression. Had we taken a reciever like Pickens in 2022 Fields would have had a reliable passing option and the offensive line was a patch job. Now i don’t hold all this against him too much, because a rebuild was needed, but probably hurt JF1’S development.
● Third is the Claypool trade. I like the thought behind it (getting fields much needed help), but claypool was terrible and not worth a 2nd rounder.
● Another mistake was the Velus Jones Jr pick. He was a 3rd round selection, but has looked like a UDFA at best.
● The last negative in my opinion is the lack of adressing the center position. Going into the year Whitehair looked like an okay option, he was a pro bowler in 2018, but center has been an absolute shitshow this season.
To finalize this analysis whe should look at the so and so things Poles has done (neutral):
– Tremaine edmunds signing (4yr/72M) –> Has been solid but not played at his price point. Shown improvement so we will see at seasons end.
– Nate Davis signing (3yr/30M) –> When playing looks good, but missed time due to personal stuff and injuries
– Roquan smith trade –> Traded a player who hadn’t shown he was willing to stay in Chicago because he requested a trade. Getting a 2nd rounder was good compensation
– Jaquan Brisker pick –> Good starter, but injury prone
– Gervon Dexter pick –> Shown flashes, but was a development coming out, so will reasses at the end of the season
– Zachh Pickens pick –> Shown flashess but is being missused as a 1T when he is an obvious 3T.
– Noah Sewell pick –> Like the upside, but no real playing time
– Tyler Scott pick –> Solid reciever who has made some mistakes, but for a 4th rounder has been good
– Justin Jones signing –> Should be depth but is a starter unfortunately. Still good value and an okay player
– Ja’Tyre Carter pick –> Good depth, nice find late in the draft
– Elijah Hicks pick –> Good depth, nice find late in the draft
– Demarcus Walker signing –> good in the rungame, but in my opinion being missused. Like to see him at 3T on obvious pass rushing downs.
So to sum up this post that is way too long. Poles is a good GM in my opinion who will build a good team with good talent. Don’t see why he should go and am excited to see what he will do this upcoming offseason.
Hope this helps in your evaluation of him and would love to hear your opinions.
(Also if my english sucks, im sorry, it is not my first language)
9 comments
TL:DR: Poles has a lot of positves. He has a good business philosophy (good cap space and draft capital management), good at finding talent (including UDFA’s and waiver pickups), good at signing players at market value, has extended players who deserved it and has made some good draft picks. Negatives are the Eberflus hire (only got to choose from McCaskey’s options), claypool trade, VJJ pick, Depriving fields of talent in 2022 and the lack of adressing the center position. And the he has a lot of so and so things where some can become good in the future
I think Poles has a done a solid job and I agree that his overall philosophy is the right one. Biggest thing you could knock him for is the Claypool trade, which he wouldn’t have done in the first place if he knew he would be in a position to land DJ Moore and is also partially on Eberflus for not being half the leader Mike Tomlin is.
We have a solid roster, tons of cap space, and 2 top 5 picks. If we hit on a HC that can effectively develop Caleb Williams, this franchise is fucking SET.
The fire Poles sentiment that some people had never made sense. GMs needs at least 4-5 years to build a team, especially one like the bears that had very little assets when he was hired. Poles has done good so far but it’s easy to tear down and get assets, it’s harder to actually use those assets to build a contender. This offseason will be the biggest one yet for Poles as he needs to show he can actually build a team now and not just get cap and good draft picks
People calling for Poles’s job are meat head fans who are uneducated and think player performance is tied back to the GM
To a certain degree it is but his main job is to construct the best roster possible and do it in a way that doesnt leverage a teams future for years to come.
If players dont perform well i contribute 80% of that to our coaches not teaching/coaching them well to get the most potential of them. And the other 20% to Poles not being able to evaluate talent properly.
Our team is awful because they are coached poorly. This has NOTHING to do with Ryan Poles
Overall I’ve been happy with Poles. He’s had hits and misses like all GMs. I like that he doesn’t fall victim to sunk cost and willing to move on from mistakes (like Claypool). But his philosophy towards embracing a full rebuild I think ultimately is the best thing he’s done so far. The roster obviously isnt there yet, but it wasnt ever going to be at this point. But there are solid pieces in place and you can see the plan and have the resources to build going forward. The team is in a good spot related to the rebuild. I think he’s done enough to let him see that through for now.
With that said, the way this offseason is shaping up in terms of status of coaches, the current roster and potential draft… this will be an offseason that could determine the fate and success of this team for the next several years. And I think the decisions made have to be done with that in mind. Specifically coaches and QB, arguably the 2 most important factors for the teams success.
I’ve said it about the QB (and not going to get into sides, that’s done enough in this sub), you need to make the decision based on the next several years. No ‘give him one more year’, it has to be ‘He’s our guy for the next 3-5 years’.
And right along with that I think the same needs to be said for coaches. You need to be confident that Flus (forget Getsy, his ass needs to be fired 100% either way), is your guy that will lead your team, develop your players and win you a superbowl in 3-5 years. If that’s not YES when the season is over, you clean house. Because no matter which direction you go at QB, changing coaches after ‘one more year’ will be a gigantic setback to either.
Lots of nice to haves but a GM is defined by 2 decisions: Coach and QB.
He appears to have failed at Coach. Judy is out on QB decisions to date.
Those are his make or break, regardless of mid-level signings and depth decisions.
Every other day someone posts a Ryan Poles hagiography. it is just denial and bargaining. And every one of them — including this one — repeat a lie about how Flus was not his choice. Eberflus was 100% Ryan Poles choice. The fact that you have to lie diminishes your argument.
And none of these puff pieces answer the question — if he is such a great GM why does this team continue to suck? After using 21 draft picks and over $300M? Only 1 win over a divisional opponent (by last second FG). How does anyone think he is doing a good job?
I do give Poles credit for starting to put together a good defense — but considering that we there is no way we can keep the coach who is running it will it remain good next year? Or will we have to retool since Flus llikes running a 4-3?
First, your English is excellent sir!
Second, this is a very well reasoned and thoughtful take.
I’d move the roquan trade and the Dexter/Pickens picks into the good.
So far Poles is my favorite GM in at least the past 0 years. Good philosophy and consistent approach.
To a point I agree he’s made some good picks. Some doubles but the only home run I would give him is Darnell Wright. Not bad but I won’t crown him for his draft selections. The pro scouting appears to have gotten better from the first year but was borderline disastrous the first year so take it with a grain of salt.
In hindsight I hate forcing Justin to helm a tank year in his sophomore season. I can’t quantify how disastrous that was for his development but it couldn’t have been a positive. Poles has always planned to move off from Justin, and I would’ve liked to see a GM go all in on figuring out what he could do. I don’t think anyone can claim Poles went all in on Justin. I hate that the center position hasn’t been fixed, and it took trading for and paying Montez sweat to get more out of the current defensive line. The claypool trade and Velus pick were both spectacular misses that have negatively harmed the team.
All in all there are things to like about Poles. He hasn’t sold off the future like Pace did consistently. That said Kevin Warren is in a fantastic spot to pívot away from every one of his employees this offseason and Poles hasn’t been good enough (like Justin) to justify to me that he should 100% keep his job. The opportunity to move on might be more enticing than keeping the Poles regime no matter the positives. I’m on the fence where I could understand keeping or retaining him. A terrible place to be; to have so many options you’re paralyzed through analysis.