When Ryan Poles officially became the new
Chicago Bears general manager, a lot of speculation began about his changes to the organization. Especially when it came to the heart of the scouting department. This is a group that Poles has little familiarity with out of some possible interactions on the road every offseason when teams gather to evaluate draft prospects at All-Star games, the scouting combine, or pro days.
Poles taking over the team meant he had all the power necessary to overhaul the department from top to bottom. Not just bringing in new executives like assistant GM Ian Cunningham, but everything right down to the area scouts. This is the kind of uncertainty that is created during a regime change. However, it's important to remember some vital context regarding Poles.
He has experienced this exact scenario from their perspective. Twice.
Scott Pioli hired him as a scout for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2009. Four years later, Pioli was fired, and John Dorsey took over as the new GM. Rather than clean house, he evaluated the department and gave Poles increased responsibilities. This continued when Brett Veach took over in 2017 after Dorsey departed. This doesn't seem like a GM that would purge a scouting department merely because he wants to bring in his own people. Based on his words at the combine in Indianapolis, it doesn't sound like he plans to either.
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There is video evidence to back this up too. The first episode of the Bears' annual 1920 Football Drive series on YouTube shows Poles sitting down with all the scouts and executives to digest film of upcoming draft prospects. It looks as if the GM gave them a wide-open floor to speak their minds and didn't have any trouble communicating with them.
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Ryan Poles has an appreciation for continuity
Blaming the scouting department for draft failures in the past can often be a big mistake. The scouts themselves have no direct control over which players ultimately get pick. That responsibility falls at the feet of the GM. They can only offer their assessment of the players. As is human nature, names they might like or dislike will differ from the man making the final decision.
For this reason, Ryan Poles wants to hear everybody's assessment. Even if it might not be something he agrees with. It all comes down to building a consensus. That is often how a team ends up picking the right players. A problem that Ryan Pace ran into during his earlier years, particularly with the Mitch Trubisky pick in 2017.
That is something his predecessor hopes to avoid.
Of course, no approach is foolproof. Poles understands that mistakes will be made. The draft is an inexact science. His goal is to minimize them as much as possible. The Bears scouting department has proven they can help find excellent players in the past. It isn't crazy to think they can accomplish what Kansas City did with better leadership at the top. It is a matter of time, patience, hard work, and a little luck.
