As a longtime college scout, Ryan Poles prefers to get out there and attend every event during the pre-draft process. It's how he found success climbing the ladder, and hopes to continue that success with the Chicago Bears. One interesting trend has surfaced since the beginning of the regular season. Poles has popped up multiple times at several high-profile college games. All of them have carried the same theme. They featured matchups between potential top 2024 quarterback picks.
He attended Clemson-Duke to watch Riley Leonard. Then he watched J.J. McCarthy in Michigan-East Carolina. After that, it was Drake Maye vs. Spencer Rattler in North Carolina-South Carolina. Last but not least came Jayden Daniels against Jordan Travis in LSU-Florida State. It is pretty clear Poles plans to be ready for a change at quarterback if the decision becomes unavoidable. Despite Justin Fields' excellent performances against Denver and Washington, Poles has not deviated from this approach.
Jordan Reid of ESPN spotted the GM in attendance for Texas vs. Oklahoma, a battle between potential 1st round pick Quinn Ewers and sleeper prospect Dillon Gabriel.
Ryan Poles has good reasons to be interested in both.
Ewers has improved considerably since the beginning of last year. His accuracy is much improved, and he's demonstrating much more confidence in his throws. When he's on, he can light up a defense with frightening precision. Ask Alabama. His problem continues to be consistency. There are games where he's hot and games where he's not. His two early interceptions against Oklahoma are a perfect example of this. It seems he's still being carried by Steve Sarkisian's excellent play calling and not enough by his own natural ability.
Gabriel is much more the overachiever. He's only 6'0 tall and isn't known for having a cannon arm, but he makes plays. In 26 games at UCF, he racked up over 8,000 yards with 70 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions. Since transferring to Oklahoma, he has over 4,700 yards with 40 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 17 games. Nobody can say his success was created by soft competition. He's tough, resilient, and accurate.
Those are all traits Ryan Poles admires. It remains too early to say what the Bears GM will do at quarterback. Everything remains on the table. Fields is playing some of his best football. If that continues for the rest of the season, Poles won't have to worry about drafting a quarterback. He will be ready to pivot if it proves to be a mirage.
