People have tried to figure out why Ryan Poles has failed to build the Chicago Bears offensive line so spectacularly over the past three years. It was supposed to be his area of expertise. He played offensive line in college, so one would think he’d have a good eye for talent in that area. Yet he just watched a unit he built surrender 67 sacks and block for the 28th-ranked rushing attack in the NFL. That is about as bad as it gets. It is easy to understand why many fans don’t trust him to fix things going into this off-season.
The truth is there isn’t much nuance to Poles’ failures. Much of it stems from his stubborn refusal to stick with programs with proven track records for producing good offensive linemen. Here is a list of schools that have produced a Pro Bowl offensive lineman in the draft since 2020.
- Iowa (2)
- Ohio State
- Wisconsin
- Oregon
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
- Northwestern
- Tennessee
- Tulsa
- Nebraska
Here are the schools of every offensive lineman Poles has drafted since he took over in 2022.
- Southern Utah
- San Diego State
- Illinois
- Southern
- Tennessee
- Yale
It probably isn’t a coincidence that Darnell Wright, by far the best pick from that group, came from the most proven school (Tennessee).
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Ryan Poles must stop trying to be the smartest guy in the room.
It feels like he’s leaning way too much into his own background, trying to find that diamond in the rough others fail to spot. He was an undrafted rookie out of Boston College and may still feel he never got a proper shot. That is not how to operate when running a draft room, especially with such a vital part of the roster. The most successful era of Bears offensive line play was the 1980s, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see why. That great unit comprised guys from USC, Iowa, Pitt, and Notre Dame.
Not a small school guy to be found.
Every sign points to the Bears being aggressive at rebuilding the offensive line this spring. That includes free agency and the draft. Ryan Poles has four picks in the top three rounds this year. He has only spent two in that range on linemen to this point, and one of them was injured and came from Yale. The mining for gold needs to stop. Stick to the programs that have done this before. Alabama, Ohio State, and LSU have some excellent prospects in this class. Don’t overthink it.
Sally just described himself. LMAO
Fuaga would have been the guy I took, but I’d have played him inside his rookie year. We had Braxton, which gave us that luxury. He will have some growing pains with the transition to LT. My ideal was to trade down with Denver and taken Bowers, then go OL with the extra pick.
@jmscooby Which franchise tackles were available last year at #9? Fashanu only started 7 games after old and broken Tyron Smith got hurt and then ended up on IR himself. His actual performance when he was on the field was graded out 73rd out of 141 rated tackles last year, nearly 20pts behind Baxton Jones (while blocking for a QB who gets rid of the ball as quickly as anyone, and not one who holds it longer than most anyone). Fuaga, in New Orleans, did start the full season at LT, but he graded out at only the 53rd rated… Read more »
Smarter than everyone else, huh? Well, let’s hope Ben Johnson can fix that.
I’m sorry, but if you can’t find a WR1 in the second round, then you suck as a GM. Or you’re lazy.