I am a big believer in Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears. What can I say? I have Bear Goggles on. Da Windy City Production put out a poll on whether the Bears should trade a first-round draft pick for Kyle Shanahan. That trade would never happen, first off. Sean Payton went for a first—and second-round pick and John Gruden went for much more. But that made me think about Ryan Poles and his drafting skills compared to Ryan Pace.
What did each GM gather, and who is doing better? Poles has Caleb Williams, so that will give him a bump. Outside of me, most people would have drafted Caleb Williams first overall either way. Williams did not make it hard on a drafting team during his tenure in college. If we include the trade in 2023, Poles has had some solid production on draft day, but what have the results been?
Key players from the Ryan Poles draft have been:
I am leaving off Rome Odunze because he hasn't exactly produced like that top-drafted receiver yet, Tory Taylor because the last punter had a great rookie season with a fall-off, and Jaquan Brisker because of injuries.
Key plays from the Ryan Pace draft have been:
I am leaving off Jonathan Bullard because he didn't thrive until way late in his career with the Vikings, Deon Bush because he wasn't supposed to be a core special team guy (but he is good at it), and DHC for the same reason.
I understand it might be too early to compare, but here we are. Pace had six draft classes, so he had an unfair advantage, but he started to get better as he went along. He drafted seven pro bowlers, and two others who could have easily been picked had that position not been loaded in the NFC.
Poles has drafted talent in his three draft classes, but the talent hasn't stayed healthy, or obviously, bad coaching has gotten in the way. However, Poles did pick the coach. Ryan Pace was stuck with John Fox early in his career, so I would call that a wash. So far, the only pro bowler that Poles has had on the team is from the Pace draft class. Thats tough.
We assume that Gordon, Brisker, Wright, Odunze, and Williams will become one, but they haven't achieved that. Poles was banking on the volume of players to help with his roster building, but so far, that hasn't come to view. Don't freak out; this is purely informational. The trade to acquire the draft capital and acquire Caleb Williams might be what sets these two apart. Only time will tell. But for now, Pace has been to the playoffs twice and achieved more.
Cheers to watching Poles turn things around and do what Ryan Pace couldn't accomplish.
