The Chicago Bears made some roster moves on Friday in anticipation of several names returning from Injured Reserve. Two prominent players were released to clear spots. One was fullback Khari Blasingame, who found a reduced role in Shane Waldron’s new offense. Health setbacks probably didn’t help his case, either. By far the bigger story is the one joining him on the way out. Velus Jones, the team’s former 3rd round pick in 2022, was also cut. This is something fans have pushed for going back a year, feeling the wide receiver wasn’t doing anything to earn his spot. At last, the experiment is over.
GM Ryan Poles was a big fan of Jones coming out of Tennessee, loving his mix of size and speed. Despite being on the older side for a draft prospect, it was felt he had the versatility to be a weapon for the Bears offense. Though Jones became a fixture as a kick returner, his constant failure to consistently catch the ball haunted him. He suffered from multiple drops on offense and multiple muffs on punt returns. His strong preseason led many in the organization to hope he was turning a corner. Then, a brutal muff on a kickoff against the Titans sealed his fate. He was benched in favor of DeAndre Carter and never got playing time again.
One key fact makes this Chicago Bears move even worse.
Hard Knocks revealed that Poles had been getting calls from other teams about a trade for Jones. The GM chose to pass, too encouraged by what he’d seen in the preseason. No doubt he wishes he’d taken advantage of that opportunity. Plenty of Chicago Bears fans are sure to let him hear about it in the coming weeks. No team bats perfect in the draft. There will always be misfires. The frustrating part about Jones is many didn’t feel he was worth going that high, even at the time. He was too old and too unproven. Abraham Lucas, Brian Robinson, Kerby Joseph, and Romeo Doubs were all names that went after him. Hopefully Poles took a lesson from this blunder.
Sallie- You wouldn’t know your ass from your head!! Your comments on here all mainly lies and you have no clue. You make statements about poles because the only guy on here that has said anything positive to you your siding with. You have no original thought and you just spout out random nonsense on a constant basis. Find a hobby besides spamming this site! Poles has done more for this organization since 2018 and has actually given fans hope. Do the majority of us a favor that down vote you and move on to something different like pretending your… Read more »
Ryan Pace’s First Round draft picks:
2015 – Kevin White
2016 – Leonard Floyd
2017 – Mitchell Trubisky (trade up)
2018 – Roquan Smith
2019 – None (Mack trade)
2020 – None (Mack trade)
2021 – Fields (trade up)
Ryan Pace’s First Round draft picks:
2022 – None (Fields trade)
2023 – Darnell Wright (trade back)
2024 – Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze
Poles didnt have much starting out. But I also think it’s too early to say that his drafting is mediocre or average compared to what Pace has done.
Let us see now: TWTY was correct about Caleb; TGena has been correct about most of the questionable players. I think now at last both are mostly correct about Poles. If he had not possessed the 1st picks in two of the NFL drafts, his very numerous and obvious mistakes would have been magnified sooner and become more apparent even to the true believers. I’m not going to say that Pace was better, but Poles’s score card is average at best given those high picks. The problem with average GMs is that they are so mediocre. Mediocre does not win… Read more »
I could be wrong, but I think TGena dances on Thursday and Friday nights.
Speaking of TGena where has he been? Did we run him off? He’s likely in the Kid Rock fan page spewing what an icon he is.