Ryan Poles isn’t in any danger. There is no point discussing it. Not after the general manager saw his Chicago Bears win the division and beat the Packers in the playoffs. Calling for his job is pointless, and not the reason for this article. This is more about discussing the complicated track record of Poles and his biggest flaw that is holding the Bears back from being a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
Let’s make one thing clear. Poles has already achieved two vital goals for sustained success. He found a viable quarterback when he drafted Caleb Williams. Then he added a brilliant head coach, Ben Johnson, to reshape the team’s culture and vision. For all the talk about good or bad general managers, the reality is that most of them hover around average. What separates the successful ones from those getting fired after three or four years is finding the right coach and quarterback. Poles is the first to achieve that in decades for the Bears.
That said, it’s a team game. Winning the Super Bowl requires a complete roster. Every GM has a blind spot: that one position they seem to struggle to find good players for. It all depends on how much said position matters to the big picture. Unfortunately for the Bears, Poles’ happens to be in a vital area.
🐻 Ryan Poles says they didnt draft any Defensive Line because of how the board fell last night
🐻 What do you guys think? 🤔
🐻 3 out of 4 picks so far are for the offense… pic.twitter.com/mVSehfY30e
— Bears Luchador 🐻 (@Bears_Luchador) April 25, 2026
Ryan Poles’ failures on the defensive line can’t be hidden.
If you look at the roster, he’s demonstrated a keen eye for positions that have historically haunted the Bears. Rome Odunze and Luther Burden at wide receiver. Colston Loveland at tight end. Darnell Wright at tackle. Of course, Williams at quarterback. His defensive exploits are less encouraging. Nowhere more so than up front. To date, he has drafted seven defensive linemen. Two were cut. One left in free agency, and another was traded. Shemar Turner hasn’t returned from a torn ACL. That leaves two of the seven remaining with a chance to contribute this season.
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Draft Year Player Position Round Pick College
2022 Dominique Robinson Defensive End 5 174 Miami (OH)
2023 Gervon Dexter Defensive Tackle 2 53 Florida
2023 Zacch Pickens Defensive Tackle 3 64 South Carolina
2023 Travis Bell Defensive Tackle 7 218 Kennesaw State
2024 Austin Booker Defensive End 5 144 Kansas
2025 Shemar Turner Defensive Tackle 2 62 Texas A&M
2025 Jordan van den Berg Defensive Tackle 6 — Ohio State
It doesn’t get much better on the free agency front. Dayo Odeyingbo and Grady Jarrett signed for a combined $91.5 million in 2025. Odeyingbo tore his Achilles midway through the first season. Jarrett only had 1.5 sacks. The only true impact player Ryan Poles has acquired to date is Montez Sweat, who cost a 2nd-round pick and $98 million to acquire. Right now, there is no positive outlook for the Bears’ immediate future. Sweat is in his 30s. Booker has yet to play a full season healthy. Van Den Berg is a rookie with lots to prove.
The Bears have been here before.
You never want to say that something like this can stop you from winning a championship, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Look at the Bears’ two most recent teams with legitimate title aspirations. The 2006 and 2010 teams both reached at least the NFC Championship. Both fell due largely to failure on offense. Much of that stems from former GM Jerry Angelo’s rough track record with drafting offensive tackles.
Jerry Angelo
Draft Year Player Round Pick College
2002 Marc Colombo 1 29 Boston College
2007 Aaron Brant 7 241 Iowa State
2008 Chris Williams 1 14 Vanderbilt
2010 J’Marcus Webb 7 218 West Texas A&M
2011 Gabe Carimi 1 29 Wisconsin
Both of their crushing losses to Indianapolis and Green Bay can be attributed to protection issues. Conversely, look ahead to the 2018 season. Ryan Pace had that team in a great spot for a run thanks to an elite defense and strong running game. What did them in was his constant inability to find viable receivers. He never found someone to adequately pair with Allen Robinson, and it showed in the playoff loss to Philadelphia. No receiver other than Robinson had more than 37 yards.
Ryan Pace
Draft Year Player Round Pick College
2015 Kevin White 1 7 West Virginia
2016 Daniel Braverman 7 230 Western Michigan
2018 Anthony Miller 2 51 Memphis
2018 Javon Wims 7 224 Georgia
2019 Riley Ridley 4 126 Georgia
2020 Darnell Mooney 5 173 Tulane
2021 Dazz Newsome 6 221 North Carolina
4. Want to know why Anthony Miller can't reach the next level?
Moments like this.
Has a good game up to that point. Eight grabs for 73 yards.
This should be a 7-yarder to set up 3rd and short. Instead, it's a drop.
Great WRs don't make routine plays look difficult. #Bears pic.twitter.com/AmTHjuXwqm
— Erik Lambert (@ErikLambert1) November 2, 2020
Unless Poles finds a solution, the Bears won’t reach their full potential.
Part of being a good leader is recognizing your own faults. Football people call it self-scouting. Doing that helps put everything in perspective. Then you can find solutions. In this case, Ryan Poles must realize by now that his current mode of operation on the defensive line isn’t working. Something must change. One way might be to bring someone into the front office who can advise him on what to look for. Teams hire senior executives all the time. There is bound to be someone out there with a reputation for identifying good defensive linemen.
Even great GMs have this problem. Howie Roseman of the Eagles is widely considered the gold standard in the NFL. For all of his brilliance, even he has struggled in certain areas. Wide receiver was the biggest. Throughout his early time at the job, Roseman had some ugly misses at the position, like Nelson Agholor, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, and Jalen Reagor. Fed up after that last one, Philadelphia brought in help by hiring former Jacksonville GM Dave Caldwell as a personnel executive.
Caldwell was a scout in Indianapolis when they drafted Reggie Wayne, a college scouting director in Atlanta when they drafted Julio Jones, then selected Allen Robinson and signed Allen Hurns as an undrafted free agent when he became Jaguars GM. With his help, Roseman nabbed DeVonta Smith in the 2021 draft. Poles must take a page from that book and find somebody with a fresh perspective who can help solve this defensive line issue.
If he doesn’t? This talk of winning a Super Bowl will remain just that. Talk.
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