The Chicago Bears have been careful about indicating their plans for the 10th overall pick in the draft later this month. GM Ryan Poles worked hard in March to free the team from having to address a core roster need. Three new interior offensive linemen and two solid defensive linemen were acquired. While the roster is far from complete, there are no glaring holes to worry about. That means the Bears could go in almost any direction, though it is felt their are certain positions unlikely to get much attention. Among them include linebacker, cornerback, guard, and quarterback.
However, Poles had an interesting comment about that. He spoke with Kevin Fishbain and Adam Jahns of The Athletic about the idea of where to focus a draft when the roster already has established starters at most positions.
“You’re looking at it multiple ways. One, it’s like short-term, long-term thinking. Two, it’s, you know, there’s certain positions like the premium ones where it’s not guaranteed you’re going to be in a spot to get one of those players. So, if we end up with a surplus, then let’s just figure it out after that and compete and the best guy wins. If someone, a young guy, has to wait, then he has to wait or other things could happen, where the guys that are currently in those spots get opportunities for other teams, so there is a lot of different options that could pop up.”
The Bears GM basically stated that the team is not afraid to draft a player that might be at a position of strength. It depends on how the board falls. Sure, it would be nice to secure somebody who can help them in a weaker spot, but sometimes it doesn’t work out that way.
Ryan Poles understands this as well as anybody.
A great example came in 2014. The St. Louis Rams didn’t go into the draft looking for defensive tackle help. They already had two quality starters, Michael Brockers and Kendall Langford. However, they were shocked when Pitt’s Aaron Donald fell to them at #13 overall. They could’ve easily just gone with a position of need, but GM Les Snead recognized this was a talent they couldn’t pass on. St. Louis took Donald and he went on to a Hall of Fame career. This is what Poles means when not being afraid of obtaining a surplus at certain positions.
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He watched the Kansas City Chiefs do it as well. They didn’t need a quarterback in 2017. Alex Smith had led them to the playoffs in 2013, 2015 and 2016. However, Patrick Mahomes was a prospect GM Brett Veach and head coach Andy Reid knew could be special. So they moved up to get him.
That is where Ryan Poles is at. He feels the Bears’ roster is in a good place. That means he shouldn’t be afraid of grabbing players who have special qualities, even if they join a position group that isn’t looking for immediate starters.