{"id":846476,"date":"2026-04-01T06:11:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/846476\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T06:11:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:11:17","slug":"bears-gm-ryan-poles-just-cast-doubt-on-a-1st-round-d-line-pick-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/846476\/","title":{"rendered":"Bears GM Ryan Poles Just Cast Doubt On A 1st-Round D-Line Pick \u2014 Here\u2019s Why"},"content":{"rendered":"

All that most people have talked about for several weeks is the Chicago Bears<\/a> taking defensive line help in the 1st round of the upcoming draft. All you have to do is follow their free agency moves. They added a starting safety, a starting linebacker, two possible starting left tackles, and a starting center. Three defensive tackles were signed, but all are backups, and no edge rusher was brought in. One would think Bears general manager Ryan Poles has the defensive front circled for that 25th overall pick.<\/p>\n

However, from the way he spoke on the Hoge & Jahns<\/a> podcast, it didn\u2019t sound like someone considering that possibility. Poles has always been candid about the Bears\u2019 projected needs in a draft. He admitted offensive tackle was a focus in 2023, and quarterback was in 2024. Yet when given the opportunity to do the same this year, he steered away from it. Poles stated that he has no plans to force the issue at the defensive line, even though it\u2019s a need. He is focused on taking the best players.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at the draft, when I\u2019ve been here, we\u2019ve taken the right mentality and taken the best available. That\u2019s been very offensive-centric and I think that\u2019s paid off for us. We got an All-Pro tackle (Darnell Wright) and Colston\u2019s going to be All-Pro tight end. So, we\u2019ve done some really good things there. It just hasn\u2019t lined up to be defensive line\u2026..I think the biggest mistake you can make is forcing something just because that\u2019s what you need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan Poles doesn\u2019t sound optimistic about his options at #25.<\/p>\n

If he were, he would\u2019ve happily discussed the possibility. Instead, he said, without directly stating it, that it is likely the Bears will pick a different position. He\u2019s not entirely wrong in his assessment. In 2023, the Bears opted for Darnell Wright with the 10th overall pick. They famously passed on Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter because of serious character concerns. Their other notable options were Lukas Van Ness, Will McDonald, and Calijah Kancey. It is safe to say they made a good decision.<\/p>\n

Last year was the same. They went with Colston Loveland over Mykel Williams, Kenneth Grant, Jalon Walker, and Walter Nolan. It\u2019s early, but that looks like another good decision. The one area where there is room for debate is 2024. Taking Caleb Williams at #1 was a foregone conclusion and the right decision. That said, the #9 pick for Rome Odunze might\u2019ve been Poles\u2019 big missed opportunity.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd25 Subscribe to the Untold Chicago YouTube channel<\/a> to hear Chicago legends tell stories you\u2019ve never seen in headlines \u2014 real moments, real experiences, straight from the athletes themselves.<\/p>\n

Pick #\u00a0PlayerPositionTeam2025 SacksCollege15Laiatu LatuEDGEIndianapolis Colts8.5UCLA16Byron Murphy IIDTSeattle Seahawks7.0Texas17Dallas TurnerEDGEMinnesota Vikings8.0Alabama19Jared VerseDELos Angeles Rams7.5Florida State<\/p>\n

This is not to say Odunze was a bad pick, but it can be argued that the Bears could\u2019ve landed a defensive line building block at that spot.<\/p>\n

Poles might be right about his chances at #25.<\/p>\n

Projections are always tricky because it is hard to gauge how other NFL teams evaluate players. Based on information available, most believe around five or six defensive linemen could go in the first 20-24 picks. That will put Ryan Poles in an interesting spot. Would he be content taking what could be the sixth or seventh-best defensive lineman on the board over, say, the third-best offensive tackle or second-best safety? Remember this strategy worked before. Wright was the second offensive lineman off the board. Williams was the first quarterback. Loveland was the first tight end.<\/p>\n

PlayerPositionSchoolProjected RangeDavid BaileyEDGETexas TechTop 5Arvell ReeseEDGEOhio StateTop 5Rueben Bain Jr.EDGEMiamiTop 10Akheem MesidorEDGEMiami15\u201320Caleb BanksDTFlorida15\u201320Peter WoodsDTClemson15\u201325<\/p>\n

Aiming at the less plucked positions is a sound strategy that hasn\u2019t steered them wrong yet. Poles seems determined to stick to that approach next month. If the board falls in a way where a smaller number of defensive linemen are selected, he will feel comfortable going that direction. From the way he\u2019s talking, it doesn\u2019t sound like he\u2019s counting on it. SM was recently informed that the Bears aren\u2019t feeling great about their chances of landing a true difference-maker. That is why they\u2019ve been heavily scouting other positions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All that most people have talked about for several weeks is the Chicago Bears taking defensive line help…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":777611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,692,391,2493,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-846476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-bears","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-bears","11":"tag-chicagobears","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116327972102978435","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}