Ryan Poles is what you’d call a divisive general manager. Many Chicago Bears fans hate him because he hired Matt Eberflus and hasn’t produced a winning season in three years. Others think he is better than he gets credit for, continually adding good pieces to the roster while maintaining a healthy salary cap. Both takes have truth to them. Poles is not perfect. He’s made his share of mistakes. However, a closer examination of his track record reveals there is another reason why he might not be having as much success as he should’ve by now.
Poles avoids the top college football factories in the draft every offseason. Over the last five years, five programs have dominated the draft in terms of producing NFL talent.
Georgia
Alabama
Michigan
LSU
Ohio State
In his four drafts to date, Poles has selected one player from those schools combined—Colston Loveland from Michigan this past April. He has never taken a player from Georgia, Alabama, LSU, or Ohio State. Meanwhile, the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles have selected ten players from those schools in the same time span. Four of them were key contributors on the Super Bowl run.
Ryan Poles might be letting his inner scout cloud his common sense.
The thing to remember about scouts is they live for the grind. One of the greatest rewards in their life is unearthing a talented player from somewhere other people weren’t looking hard enough. That is why the Bears are grabbing guys from places like Southern Utah, Southern, Kennesaw State, Yale, and UTSA. Ryan Poles believes their talent is high enough to where they can make the NFL transition, not putting enough credence in the fact that all of them have never faced top-tier competition like guys in the SEC and Big Ten do.
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A harsh reality is that most guys who come from humble schools like those never pan out in the pros. That doesn’t stop Poles from taking swings. Too many swings. One of the reasons the 1980s Bears were so good was that they usually focused on top programs in the draft.
Dan Hampton (Arkansas)
Mike Singletary (Baylor)
Keith Van Horne (USC)
Jimbo Covert (Pitt)
Wilber Marshall (Florida)
William Perry (Clemson)
It doesn’t have to be rocket science unless you make it that way. Thankfully, Poles seems to have adjusted his approach this past spring. Five of his eight picks came from the SEC or Big Ten, including three of the first four. There are already signs that this was a smart decision.