Ryan Poles has drafted nine players from the Senior Bowl over his first three seasons in charge of the Chicago Bears. He values the event as a way to identify quality talent, which is what led him to Darnell Wright and Tyrique Stevenson. It is reasonable to assume he'll dip into that pool again for the 2025 draft. Beat writer Nicholas Moreano was down in Mobile, Alabama, for the event. After failing to spot the Bears GM on the first day, he popped up on the second. It didn't take long to determine what Poles' objective was.
Moreano noticed he and assistant GM Ian Cunningham spent almost all of their time watching the same drill over and over—the one-on-one matchups between the offensive and defensive linemen. The only deviation was when Poles slipped away to watch the running backs. That should pretty much tell you where the team's priorities lay ahead of spring.
Ryan Poles doesn't need a detailed plan of attack.
Anybody with common sense can see where the Bears need help. They were painfully weak at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Offensively, they allowed 67 sacks on Caleb Williams while only ranking 25th in rushing. On defense, they were 28th against the run and got only 29 sacks from the defensive line. It is hard to win in the NFL when you can't control the trenches. There is a reason teams like Philadelphia and Detroit dominated the NFC the past two seasons.
No doubt Ryan Poles knows he must attack this off-season with every resource available to fix both issues. He will have ample opportunities in both free agency and the draft. As to the running back diversion, new head coach Ben Johnson is a big proponent of the ground game. He didn't seem to care much for D'Andre Swift when they worked together in Detroit. That makes almost a guarantee the Bears will seek help in the draft. It is a strong class this year. Poles has to make sure he knows which ones to target.
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