Buyers Remorse? Ryan Poles on the Draft
The more swings you take the more likely you are to get a hit, at least that seemed to be Poles' strategy going into the 2022 NFL Draft. Poles traded up to 11 picks which is the most picks by the Bears since 2008 with 12 picks. Just about half of our team is brand new now and we will see how they come together under the new regime. Poles had a lot to say about the draft, here are some excerpts from the man himself.
"Any time you have more ammunition, the better in terms of getting hits, and that was kind of the thought process," Poles said.
"As you all saw we were able to really turn those three picks that we had today into eight, which gave us a lot more ammunition to bring in more players to compete and make this roster more competitive. And I truly believe that when you increase the amount of competition, you get the best out of everybody. It also gives a high hit rate of players to bring onto the roster that can really impact our team and develop as well."
Of course, trading down was always in the plans.
"It's a feel," Poles said. "It really was based on the number of players in certain ranges. And then when you felt like the number was getting low, it was time to kind of cut it out and start picking players. And there were moments when we said, 'no, we're going to start picking players,' and then there were opportunities when we said, 'no, let's move again and get more,' because that's what the board was telling us to do."
I honestly don't think I've ever seen a GM show so much love for his scouts before, which goes as a credit to Poles where if you want to rebuild you have to take a hard look at the people stacking the blocks. Jeff King has been a superstar for the Bears and Poles has nothing but good things to say about the scouts.
"I asked the guys to walk in front of the board with a notepad and write down three guys that they're absolutely convicted about," Poles said. "We put stars on all their tags. We ended up with a majority of them.
"Anytime someone has conviction about something, it means something. They've spent a lot of time. There's no waver. That was important."
"They spent so much time on the road and in those schools," Poles said. "It means a lot when you get a player drafted that you spent a lot of time with. It's been a really good process for them."
Poles also had some comments on going with defensive picks on day 2.
"It really comes down to the preparation," Poles said. "It comes down to the board and where guys are valued. And where we sat, there were two good starting-level defensive players, and I would have made a huge mistake for this organization to say, 'let's leave them there, let someone else take them, and we're going to go offense where they're not on the same level.'
"And then you're kicking yourself a year or two later when that guy's an All-Pro. But, yeah, I just did what I needed at the time, so again it comes back to discipline and doing things the right way, and I felt like that's going to be a decision that we're all happy with."
Poles has his scouts convey a simple message to undrafted free agents.
"Competition. Come and compete. Opportunity. It's a fresh set of eyes, both front office and coaching staff willing to develop everyone. There's no bias, there's no nothing.""We're just going to make sure that the best players are on the field, and that should mean a lot. But it is a crazy process. They're up there scrambling right now and doing a really good job. This is probably the best process, the way we started this tonight after the draft, that I've been a part of. Very organized. Again, using technology to stay connected and linked up while being in different rooms so you don't have the noise and people scrambling and screaming.
"It is a crazy time. But I will guarantee you there will be some guys from this undrafted free agent process that are going to develop and be good players."
Poles has definitely won me over as you've seen in previous articles, this next season may be an adjustment but I see a bright future for our Bears.
Article Written by: Joseph Scott King
