The NFL free agency has died down. The draft is now behind us. Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Poles has done a huge job of building a contending team in Year 3 of his rebuild. When he became the GM, he said he set out to build a complete team that would contend consistently.
Previous GMs failed to build a full team. Sure, there were winning seasons here and there. However, those seasons were few and far between. There were many more losing seasons and the team became irrelevant. The franchise’s focus on a strong defense seemed out of place in the modern, pass-happy NFL.
Poles came to Chicago and wanted to change all of that. He built up the defense, yes. While the overall numbers last season were not one of an elite defense, they were certainly playing well after a slow start.
In the first four games of the 2023 season, the Bears defense allowed 34.2 points per game. For the rest of the season, they allowed just 18.6 points per game. If they did that for the entire season they would have ranked sixth in scoring defense.
Poles was not finished, however. In the draft, he selected two elite prospects. He used the number one pick on a “generational” talent, former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams. Then, with the ninth pick, he selected wide receiver Rome Odunze. Now the Bears have a great quarterback who can make any throw and who has three WR1s to target.
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