The 2022 NFL Draft is one week away as anticipation builds for what direction new Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles will focus on with Chicago's six current selections. As Poles oversees a rebuild of the Bears' roster with new head coach Matt Eberflus, Chicago's new general manager will have to address several areas of weakness on the team. Turning in a successful draft will be vital given how poor this offseason has been for the Bears.

Ryan Poles Can Have His First Offseason Win at The Draft

Since the Bears hired Poles as their general manager back on January 25th, every significant move that Chicago's general manager has tried to make has failed to come to fruition. At the start of the free agency in March, the Bears signed former Bengals' defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi to a large free-agent contract. The signing of Ogunjobi was significant as he was slated to be the first player acquired that would fit Eberflus' new Cover-2 defensive scheme. Unfortunately, the deal fell through when the defensive tackle failed his physical with the Bears, voiding the agreement. A few weeks later, Poles tried to improve the offensive side of the ball by signing offensive guard Ryan Bates to help improve the Bears' depleted offensive line. Chicago and Bates agreed to a deal, but due to the offensive guard being a restricted free agent, his former team, the Buffalo Bills, were able to match the offer and retain his services. Again Poles missed a chance to address a position of need with a proven player.

As the offseason has gone on, Bears fans have been growing more critical of Poles due to his inaction in making significant moves to help improve the team. Although Chicago's new general manager has signed veteran free agents, including Byron Pringle, Nicholas Morrow, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Dakota Dozier, and Equanimeous St. Brown, he has failed to sign top-tier free agents. Despite not making an impactful free agent signing or trade, Poles can redeem himself at next week's NFL Draft. One of the reasons he was highly touted when hired by the Bears was his scouting success with the Kansas City Chiefs. During Poles' time in Kansas City as the Director of College Scouting, he was credited for identifying future talents such as Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and other future Pro Bowl players. If Poles can find two or three potential starters in the 2022 NFL Draft that can develop into Pro Bowl-caliber players, he can still have a successful 2022 offseason, despite the free agency struggles. Fans will forgive the free agency inaction if a prospect drafted by the Bears shows immediate potential during the regular season later this year.

Poles Needs To Be At Drafting Player Than The General Manager He Replaced

Poles replaced Ryan Pace as general manager as the Bears only had one winning season and two playoff appearances during Pace's seven years in the role. One criticism of Chicago's former general manager was his inability to have constant success with his draft classes. Only two of Pace's five first-round selections are still with the Bears. Those player are linebacker Roquan Smith and quarterback Justin Fields. Although Chicago's former general manager had success in the later rounds of the draft, including selecting Tarik Cohen, Eddie Jackson, Darnell Mooney, David Montgomery, and Jordan Howard, he has made several other picks that did not work out at all. Pace's first draft as general manager in 2015 was a disastrous one as his first-round selection of wide receiver Kevin White completely backfired as White only played 14 games for the Bears over four years. In the 2015 NFL Draft, Chicago did draft defensive tackle Eddie Goldman and safety Adrian Amos, as both had solid NFL careers, but neither player are still with the Bears, nor is anyone else from that draft class.

What allowed Pace to overcome a lackluster initial draft class was his success with his first free agency class. The big free-agent signing for the Bears in 2015 was linebacker Pernell McPhee, who recorded six sacks in his first season with the team. McPhee and other smaller signings that panned out allowed Pace's first season as general manager to be viewed as good, with potential upside.

Unfortunately for Poles, he needs to prove that he is better than Pace immediately, and the free agency failures last month have not helped. The Bears' new general manager must now succeed with his first draft class, something that the former struggled to do. A promising draft class, including a wide receiver, offensive lineman, and a defensive player, would allow Poles to prove to the Chicago fan base that he was the correct hire by George McCaskey. The worst thing that can potentially happen to Poles is to miss with the Bears' six or more selections next week and not have any significant additions to help improve the roster. The Bears are not expected to win many games in 2022, but their new general manager needs to demonstrate an ability to find players to help rebuild the roster, which is achieved with successful drafting. If Poles dissapoints during the 2022 NFL Draft, His first offseason as Bears' general manager may go down as one of the most disappointing offseasons in franchise history.