Ryan Poles Holds the NFL World in The Palms of His Hands
Image from Michael Reaves/Getty Images
CHICAGO, Illinois (PSF) - Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Poles has the keys to turn around a historic and illustrious Chicago Bears franchise that has not seen much success since they were deemed Super Bowl champions in 1986.
37 years. Yes, you read that correctly. That is the number of years since the Chicago Bears have won a Super Bowl title. Since then, they have gone through a list of quarterbacks that incluyde include Jim McMahon, Jim Harbaugh, Rex Grossman, Jay Cutler, Mitchell Trubisky, and now Justin Fields.
The list sure is not pretty, but the Bears feel like they finally have something in Fields. The Ohio State Buckeye product just finished his sophomore campaign with Chicago which entailed a 3-14 record, good enough for the basement of the NFC North. He posted a 60.4% completion percentage, 2,242 passing yards, 17 scores through the air, 8 by the ground, and 11 picks. He also became the third quarterback in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards joining the likes of Michael Vick and Lamar Jackson.
Photo by San Diego Tribune
The new age of dual threat quarterbacks in the NFL fits Fields’ strengths to a tee, but that still does not prevent General Manager Ryan Poles from selecting a quarterback of his choosing come April. While fielding questions from the media at his end of the season press conference, Poles had this to say about selecting a QB with the 1st overall pick:
“We’re gonna do the same as we’ve always done. We’re going to evaluate the draft class…I’d have to be absolutely blown away to make that type of decision.”
Historically, the number one overall pick in the NFL Draft has only been traded four times. The most recent trade happening in 2016, when the St. Louis Rams traded the No. 15 overall pick, two 2016 second-round picks, a 2016 third-round pick, a 2017 first-round pick, and a 2017 third-round pick to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for the eventual No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff. Looking at this year’s draft order, there are four quarterback needy teams all inside the top 10 that Poles and Chicago can trade down with. Those teams are the Houston Texans at number two overall, Indianapolis Colts at number four overall, Las Vegas Raiders at number seven overall, and the Carolina Panthers sitting at number nine overall.
Image: Indianapolis Colts
While all of these options are appealing, none might be more appealing than the Texans. Not only would it be in Houston’s best interest to trade up to the number one slot as this would prevent any other team from jumping them for the first pick, but Chicago’s as well as they would have the possibility of only moving down one spot on the draft board. Poles would set the Bears up to be in a position where they could take the best non-quarterback prospect, while also acquiring multiple picks in the process.
Now slotted at number two overall, if Poles and the Bears want to acquire even more picks on top of what they receive from Houston in this hypothetical, they could strike a deal with a general manager on the hot seat in Chris Ballard. By trading down again from two to four hypothetically, Chicago most likely acquires another first-rounder, and the Colts their QB. Add all these potential draft routes to the $118M in cap space that the Bears have to work with this offseason, and you have a potentially franchise altering offseason.
This is an absolutely crucial offseason for Poles and company, and they cannot afford to screw up.
