Why Ryan Poles Should Postpone His Big Move At QB
Sunday night was a proper wake-up call for the Chicago Bears. They’re not good enough. The Los Angeles Chargers are a flawed organization, but one thing was obvious. They were significantly more talented than the Bears. That is going to be the case several times the rest of the season. For all the talk about the ongoing quarterback situation, this team has more glaring issues elsewhere. Justin Fields and Tyson Bagent aren’t the biggest problems. GM Ryan Poles may wish to restart the clock at QB, but it might be wiser for him to postpone that decision until he can find more star power.
There is a strong probability the Bears will end up with two picks in the top 10 next offseason. That gives them a golden opportunity to infuse the roster with blue-chip talent. Conventional wisdom says they should take that chance to find their quarterback of the future. Nobody would blame Poles for doing that. However, this 2024 class has so much quality at other positions of need, like left tackle, wide receiver, and pass rusher. Those positions are easier to hit on in the 1st round than a quarterback.
Poles badly needs another home run or two if he wants to get this team going in the right direction. Unless he’s close to 100% certain he’s getting a future star at QB, it might wise to focus on other premium positions.
The Chargers illustrated how wide the gap is for Ryan Poles.
On Sunday night, they fielded seven players that have made at least one Pro Bowl in their career. Chicago fielded two, Tremaine Edmunds and Cody Whitehair. People were quick to pounce on Tyson Bagent for his mistakes, which is inevitable with this fanbase. The reality is he had no chance. His supporting cast was woefully unequal to the task. Los Angeles was a team well-constructed by a competent GM over the past several years. Chicago is in the second year of a rebuild. That game reflected this reality.
Next off-season marks the best opportunity Ryan Poles will have to start seriously changing this. His efforts from this past March have him in line to secure two top-10 draft picks. Chicago is currently projected to hold the #2 and #3 overall selections. That would be an incredible opportunity to land two studs. Maybe they go for a freakish receiver like Marvin Harrison Junior. Or they could add more beef on the offensive line with Penn State left tackle Olu Fashanu. There will also be some talented pass rushers on the boards as well.
Plenty of fans have seen enough of Justin Fields at quarterback. Still, it doesn’t feel like putting another high draft pick into this situation feels wise. The Bears still have one more cheap season of Fields’ rookie contract. Poles might as well make use of it while continuing to bolster the surrounding roster.