I couldn't make it and its obvious I just don't have or use enough of my free time to even make a small evaluation of 300 draft prospects let alone the approximate 1500 total that are eligible, I did manage to see some and come out with some favorites especially on areas the Bears are/where in need like OL, WR and DBs.
Its been a while since the draft ended and with UDFA signed with some teams already tested these players in camp, at this stage of the 2022 season there is a better view of the plan Ryan Poles managed to try and pull off to make a team out of a depleted group of players he received when he accepted the job as the Bears GM, starting by going back to the first round of the draft.
The Bears were absent it the first round by giving this pick to get Justin Fields the year prior, with it the NY Giants made the best out of it and really bolstered their trenches using the Fields pick and their own, so they probably got good value out of the trade. Poles and company were spectators for the time being and just watched how their board was falling for day two, as a fan I was watching to see how many WRs and iOL were still there and how the unavoidable happened as there was a streak of WRs chosen, big favorites Drake London, Jameson Williams, Garret Wilson, Chris Olave went first with Treylon Burks and Jahan Dotson following as two wide outs with a probability to fall out of the first round, iOL options Zion Johnson, Tyler Linderbaum and Kenyon Green didn't last long and even Tyler Smith didn't slide out of the first round. It wasn't looking all too promising for the Bears to pick a top talent at these positions but still there where options.
Starting the second round one thought was clear, I don't want any trade ups by the Bears and just like that the Packers did just that and took one of the last three top X type WRs on the board in Christian Watson, that only left George Pickens who was tumbling down board probably because of his character and one dimensional Alec Pierce, I understand the Bears not picking either with pick 39 but to be honest a CB wasn't on my list, a trade back was but they liked the value of Kyler Gordon too much here and I get it, he is an athlete and played very well at Washington, looked more like an outside corner than his teammate McDuffie who is a better tackler and his size makes him a better and very good NB, Gordon would pair up very nicely as #2 along with Jaylon Johnson competing with Thomas Graham and having a good rotation at nickel and dime inside with Tavon Young leading the mix, needles to say I was shocked but not angry, I wanted offense. I had Coby Bryant and Andrew Booth to go similar as Gordon, Bryant I consider being at the same skill level as Gordon and Booth I liked but I see him having trouble with big receivers, the fact that he has some injury issues and history just makes me like Gordon even more than him, after these players I did have a fall in talent.
Pick 48 came in and all the options they had at 39 where still there, then it happened, Poles picked a player that just opened my eyes and scrambled my brain, it was something I would have seen happen before with the old regimes because of the history the team builds its foundation on, but the thought of doing it again at this time while having a never seen promise and talent at the premier position of the sport? Picking Jaquan Brisker as Poles second ever pick in the draft made my jaw drop, a long WOOOOW filled my mind and my room as I said it out loud, it was of disbelief rapidly paired with possibilities, then it hit me, the Bears where going BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE! I never really felt past GMs going this path, one because I never tried to evaluate the players in the slightest and two because it always felt they where trying to fill the "needs" in the team and while CB and S where indeed needs, picking one of the WRs, OG or T would have been a more debatable reach than Brisker, he is an all around safety that can roam the secondary and play as an enforcer in the line of scrimmage, he is another athlete that even if he doesn't have great speed is good enough to cover deep while still able to bringing the boom to the ball carrier, he is a great promise to complement Eddie Jackson. With these two additions, the secondary looks top 10 on paper, Gordon would be the favorite to win against Graham for the #2 corner spot which would be awesome for the team not much for Graham who would come of the bench if needed outside or rotate on nickel and dime inside with Young and Dane Cruikshank, that's is a really really promising secondary which was a big concern last year and now it looks fixed. But still, offense is still looking really bleak at this stage of the draft with no trade downs and limited picks. I would have targeted S Bryan Cook at the next round if Poles would have gone offense first in round two, but Cook didn't even reach round 3 so getting Brisker who I consider better than Cook gives the pick more value. Additional note, I like Nick Bonitto a lot as a pass rusher, maybe too small and could disappear like Shane Ray did with the Broncos but I do think he is better than Ray coming off college. I like Tyquan Thornton but never considered him going in the second round, still he has size and bunch of speed, if he can put some muscle he could be very good, maybe Bill saw some Randy Moss in him.
Pick 78 arrived and Poles opted to stay put, yikes! the value of picks for the Bears left on the board weren't looking very enticing, was Poles really going to pick six guys this year? Offense arrived at last, not the guy many were waiting for. The pick was WR Velus Jones Jr. who is not the X position weapon some expected because he really didn't thrive there, he played slot on limited reps with return experience and a lot of speed and YAC skills. He probably wasn't going to be on the board at round 5 where the Bears would pick next and trading up would have been taboo, so Poles picked his weapon for Fields, who probably by now everybody in the NFL world knows he just turned 25 years old very recently, congrats. So an older than average rookie who is strong and a fast return specialist at round 3, not what I was expecting but still it was the same reaction, confused but not angry, Fields needs weapons, he provides it, will it work? maybe. The problem with the masses is that X type receivers where still available like David Bell, Jalen Tolbert and Romeo Doubs who are promising talents and only time will tell if their size will be better used on their teams against the speed of Jones. I wanted Dylan Parham, he would have been my solution for RG or even Sean Rhyan, other guys like Bernhard Raimann and Abraham Lucas for depth at tackle where available, big field stretchers like Jelani Woods and Greg Dulcich at TE, defensively Travis Jones at NT or Channing Tindall at LB who are a menace. But the picks were limited with no trade downs to get more shots, the big three picks of the Bears where done and so was day two of the draft, more questions than answers where created, with a sense of numbness I waited for day three just to get closure and see how Poles tried to make the offense look better, I wasn't very hopeful.
Round 4 came and when without a care, depth talent that escaped the Bears where some T with Max Mitchell, Daniel Faalele and Zach Tom gone, bunch of RBs, TEs and Ps (punters? in the 4th round not names Araiza? the hell?) Volson was another promising G I liked but the one that really got away was TE Chig Okonkwo, very versatile weapon that played good at FB, TE and big slot, that's a fun player.
We reach round 5 where Poles would pick two very early picks of his last three in this draft, pick 148 came and OH YEAH TRADE DOWN! better late than never, very big drop staying in the 5th round to add another pick in the 6th. Ok so quickly pick 150 arrived and WOOP! again another drop on the 5th to add another 6th on a trade down. Need to wait a bit more to see what Poles brings to the team but the multiplication of picks finally was manifested, 166 pick here we go aaaaand its traded, dropping moderately still inside the 5th round to add a 7th rounder, ok so I wanted picks and Poles just doubled the ones he had left, that's a good way to shut me up. Talent that was left still on the board before trading down? ironically two of them were picked up with the original picks the Bears gave away, WR Khalil Shakir and DT Thomas Booker were solid players I would have easily seen this Bears team pick up, specially Booker who is a promising 3T. Others where the two big athletic and raw corners in Zyon McCollum and Tariq Woolen, slot WR extraordinaire Kyle Philips and EDGE Tyreke Smith. Finally Poles selected someone with pick 168 in T Braxton Jones who for me is a good pick to have as a project and insurance if Tavon Jenkins or Larry Borom don't pan out, Jones is big and very powerful and athletic but still raw and would surprise me if he contributes in his first year, I would hope he becomes at least the Bears swing tackle for his second year. With pick 174 the EDGE positions gets their own project with Dominique Robinson, fast and super athletic who is still somewhat raw to the position being he played WR and only started playing EDGE not a long time ago, still I do see him ready to be a rotational player in his first year and being good competition for Travis Gipson. Interesting talent after these picks I would considered would be 3T DTs Matthew Butler.
With what would have been their last pick 186 Poles finally got someone to compete for the RG position in the other Zachary Thomas, a speedy T that plays the run better than the pass and can get to the second level in a hurry and with a temper. Other on my list were G Jamaree Salyer to compete for the spot as well, he went after the Thomas pick. With pick 203 RB Trestan Ebner got selected to help Luke Getsy get creative, Ebner is a solid RB with good speed and enough shiftiness to break a long run but is far away from dethroning David Montgomery or even Khalil Herbert for touches, still Ebner can greatly help in the pass game and as a returner where he can do damage when having room to see the field. With pick 207 there's more help for the OL with C Doug Kramer, honestly Kramer has as much work to do than Sam Mustipher, Kramer positions himself very well to create lanes and has some good hand usage but lacks strength and his movement speed is average, he has the advantage to be as good as Mustipher right now as he is still young and may get better with coaching to upgrade the depth at C. Ending round 6 the last player I considered to be a fix for RG was Lecitus Smith, but ney ney.
Round 7 Poles again dipped in the G pool and with pick 226 came up with Ja´Tyre Carter, good size with strength but played T and will be a project player if he manages to stick around. So that was it right? Oh no, Poles has more surprises up his sleeve and comes up with the two fist compensatory picks of the 7th round by returning the Charges 6th rounder from the Khalil Mack trade back to them. With these Poles gets some help for STs in S Elijah Hicks and P Trenton Gill. Hicks is all energy and has the agility and vision to cover deep while also being a good tackler, Gill is more of an accurate punter with sufficient strength in his leg to be considered in the league, so even the P position gets competition. Players that interested me that didn't get picked in round 7 where WR Bo Melton, T Rasheed Walker, Chris Paul and LB Jesse Luketa.
The UDFA signed to the team I really cant give an opinion, as I do not know a thing about them and cuts have already been happening as well as new signings like recent 1 year deals for WRs Tajae Sharp and Dante Pettis, some more young guys brought in on prove it deals, which are very needed.
UDFAs who I thought would get drafted that I liked were LB Jack Sanborn, CBs Mario Goodrich and Josh Jobe, WR Emeka Emezie, TEs Austin Allen and Brant Kuithe, C Donovan West, T Kellen Diesch, QB Carson Strong.
The team overall wont scare good teams, they will have to come in with an underdog mentality. Defensively the secondary can help out the pass rush this time around, both can be decent to good, what is in the air is the run defense, the middle of the DLine and LBs may not be the best to stuff runs in the middle, this will be closely monitored. Offensively there are weapons and there is talent, just not superstar level talent, not enough at least, the key to this offense will be the scheme and play calling, can Getsy bring the best out of this rag tag squad? did Poles do enough to find OLmen to give Fields a fighting chance? Overall Poles did good by multiplying his picks to have more hit and misses. Forget that this team lacked starting caliber players, the team he inherited had ZERO bodies and/or depth for SS, CB2, WLB, C, RG, WR1 and even SLOT could be added to the list, Poles hasn't made veteran star signings on neither side of the ball and doesn't look like he will, one could say he has done what he has said he would do since he got to Chicago, so the plan is being executed looking like this year is an evaluation for the foundation, make this team compete to their best of the players abilities and pick who will form the basis of this team hoping there are many and start filling the holes next year more aggressively, that looks to be the next step, sounds good but its still a wait and see if Matt Eberflus and his crew are the right people to execute the plan.
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