Every off-season is exciting for Chicago Bears fans. When evaluating potential draft prospects, most reserve their attention for things like the scouting combine. That isn't a surprise. It's where the highest concentration of likely high selections congregate. However, more than a few top evaluators around the NFL believe a different event is the most valuable to the pre-draft process. That is the Senior Bowl, the all-star game that takes place every year down in Mobile, Alabama. Count Bears GM Ryan Poles among their number.
Albert Breer of the MMQB asked around about the importance of the Senior Bowl, which takes place next week. Poles sent him what feels like a pretty noteworthy answer.
And Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles texted, “[Executive director] Jim [Nagy] and his staff have done a fantastic job identifying talent, as well as setting up an environment that allows players to shine and clubs to evaluate. The Senior Bowl adds significant value to the pre-draft process. It’s our first touchpoint outside of a college campus. We get to validate information we gathered in the fall. We also love seeing how players handle different match-ups as well as different positions. When you select a player you want to have conviction—the Senior Bowl has done that for us in the past and will in the future.”
Poles has backed that up with action.
Over the past two years, the Bears have selected nine players who participated in the Senior Bowls. That is out of 21 total. That is a pretty significant percentage. Not only that, but some of those players feel like important pieces to their new foundation.
- LT Braxton Jones
- RT Darnell Wright
- CB Tyrique Stevenson
- RB Roschon Johnson
This is a big reason it might be wise for Bears fans to pay close attention to the action down in Mobile. Some of the notable names who perform well down there could end up in navy blue a few months from now.
Ryan Poles has infiltrators already in place.
Last year, the Bears had the opportunity to send their coaches to the event and run practices for the National team, headlined by former offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. Given how well they did in the draft that subsequent April, it isn't surprising they'd jump at the chance to do it again. Changes were made to the event this year, this time involving a mix of coaches from different staffs around the league. As it turns out, the Bears will have four assistants running various position groups during the week-long action.
- Jim Dray - National offensive line
- Kerry Joseph - American quarterbacks
- Justin Hinds - American defensive line
- Kenny Norton III - American defensive backs
Joseph was a lucky break. Originally, he was to represent the Seattle Seahawks, but Pete Carroll stepped down and the Bears hired him as their new quarterbacks coach. This is an enormous opportunity for Ryan Poles. His team has key needs at each of those positions, including QB, center, edge, defensive tackle, and safety. The extra information he'll collect from the personal interaction between those coaches and the players will prove invaluable.
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