Everyone can agree that Ryan Poles received a poor hand when he took over the disaster Ryan Pace left behind from his stint with the Chicago Bears. Even though he was in a difficult situation, Ryan Poles’ tenure in the NFL is currently in full swing after six weeks. We were aware that the roster would not improve overnight, but he has also made blunders in terms of roster construction this year, which the team has not benefited from. These are 4 moves Ryan Poles made over the off-season that are harming the Bears.
Waiting So Long To Draft Their Starting LT
It’s challenging because Braxton Jones was selected by the Chicago Bears in the fifth round. It’s fair to argue that Braxton Jones has been poor and a liability, but how much can you really blame him for? He was at Southern Utah during the previous season, and now he is being thrown around by a near-alien named Montez Sweat. The bigger problem is Ryan Poles’ management of the situation. He didn’t locate his starting left tackle until the fifth round. They didn’t have many other options, so if you happen to get lucky after picking for depth, that’s wonderful. In actuality, their starting right guard or right tackle was their other choice at the moment. A day before training camp, the organization signed Riley Reiff before realizing why he was still available. He was soundly defeated by Braxton Jones, and when you see Jones, you have to question just how worthless Reiff really is.
When you consider the expectations of a rookie from Southern Utah selected in the fifth round, Jones has performed admirably. It was wise of Chicago to give the younger guy the chance. However, that was still a disaster waiting to happen from the get-go. In most cases, the Chicago Bears will need a left tackle heading into the upcoming summer, and this is another issue to add to the list.
Bears Drafting Velus Jones Jr
The Chicago Bears were in desperate need of a wide receiver, as everyone and their mother knew. Dante Pettis and Equanimeous St. Brown were the two biggest offseason signings thus far. However, the team did little to nothing to bolster the position this offseason.
A wide receiver was anticipated since that was the list of free-agent arrivals. The team switched to defense while George Pickens was present. The squad then chose Velus Jones, who at the time wasn’t rated highly by many fans. The issues with Velus Jones were that he was a gadget player with special teams aptitude who took longer to succeed in college than his rivals.
Of course, there is also the disaster involving the special teams. Twice he has fumbled, and both times the squad lost the game as a result. His fumble against the Giants cost him the opportunity to lead a drive to tie the game, and in the game Thursday, it literally turned the tides as the turnover led to both of the game’s decisive touchdowns and the Washington Commanders’ lone touchdown. The Chicago Bears assured us that they had no need for a second opinion and that we could trust their assessment of Jones. It wouldn’t be a big concern if they selected Jones but also added a few other capable players, or if Jones was selected a few rounds after another wide receiver.
It’s difficult to criticize him for his hamstring injury, but he’s been awful on special teams, which is a huge reason why the public and the media were supporting the selection. Not good so far.
Al-Quadin Muhhamad
Matt Eberflus might end up getting this one again. Naturally, he is from Indianapolis and served as the Colts defensive coordinator, where he was much more actively involved in coaching Al-quadin Muhammad. Eberflus must have been near Ryan Poles in this case, it seems.
Perhaps Poles will push him away the next time. Muhammad has not performed well this season in any regard. In the running game, he is constantly under pressure from opposing opponents. He is the poorest pass rusher among all edge rushers aside from that. Through all six games, AQM has started ahead of Trevis Gipson despite the team giving him more snaps for four weeks. Muhammad is currently aggressively damaging the team and contributing nothing that will help them win. It was a terrible signing, and what made it even stranger was that the team’s edge rushers were obviously playing poor run defense.
It was probably a mistake to expect any of these four to be proficient at run defense after adding Muhammad, who is not a strong run defender. Even while his head coach truly wanted this one, that brings us back to Ryan Poles. He ought to have informed Eberflus that the run defense would be ineffective and that they required additional strength on the edge.
Lucas Patrick
According to reports, Brian Allen, who had a change of heart and returned to his LA Rams, passed up the Chicago Bears. Fair enough, Allen has been injured, but Lucas Patrick’s as the backup plan hasn’t worked out well. Patrick was reportedly acquired by the Chicago Bears because Luke Getsy, their offensive coordinator, wanted him. Although he was versatile, Getsy wanted him to play center and serve as Justin Fields’ rock for many years to come. This has not occurred once yet this season. Yes, up until a few weeks ago, Patrick was unable to snap a football. Even so, he has been alternating between playing right guard and left guard as part of the Chicago Bears’ plan to sign their future main center.
He was displacing Teven Jenkins, who was doing better than him, at right guard. He appears and plays out of position at left guard and has had trouble the past two games. He later left on Thursday due to an injury.
They envisioned Patrick as a long-term pillar for Justin Fields when they signed him. He currently feels like a swing inside player who should be a backup and a stand-in. This is exactly what the Bears did not want to see.
