(670 The Score) For all the talk about what this NFL Draft would reveal about Bears general manager Ryan Poles, his selections spoke loudest about coach Matt Eberflus.
The Bears have unshakable faith in Flus.
They must.
If this was originally posed as Poles’ defining draft, it now morphs into Eberflus’ enormous challenge. Look at how many players were picked specifically for how they'll be deployed in the Bears’ new offensive or defensive schemes or developed by the new coaching staff. See how many draft picks arrive with so-called ceilings higher than their floors. Understand how that represents an organizational trust in coaching players on the field as much as identifying talent in the front office.
Those realities quickly shifted the focus from what kind of prospect Poles favors to how well Eberflus and his assistant coaches can close the gap between potential and production.
Find their fits. Coach them up, hard. Make it work.
Take your time.
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There was nothing complex about the message coming out of Halas Hall. There should be no ambiguity about how long Poles and Eberflus have to rebuild this either, regardless of how reluctant they've been to discuss their contract specifics. It will take seasons for the Bears to return to respectability, plural, which helps explain why there was nothing at all complementary about Poles’ first draft class – not with a roster as bereft of talent and depth as the one he inherited. This was a foundational draft.
All that silliness about whether Poles wanted to call this phase a “rebuild” became entirely moot based on his actions over the weekend, from picking two defensive backs ideally suited for the Cover-2 defense Eberflus implemented to Poles’ wheeling-and-dealing to accumulate low-round draft picks.
Welcome to the latest Chicago Bears rebuilding project. Meet the smiling hands-on foreman carrying the lunch pail. You can call him Flus.
Everything now revolves around his energy, enthusiasm and expertise. Everybody in the organization apparently believes in Flus.
That was my biggest overall takeaway after processing all the information available during the annual three-day football extravaganza in which diehards routinely debate prospects’ short arms, high ceilings and how they play in space. Perennial playoff teams such as the Ravens and the Chiefs, for example, can afford to approach the draft as a luxury unlike postseason strangers such as the Bears, who must view it as a necessity. Put in more provincial terms: The Bears currently are closer to the Lions than the Packers.
Consider the Bears entered the 2022 draft needing starters at cornerback, safety, wide receiver and potentially two offensive line spots – and that’s a conservative estimate. That overall depth chart deficiency outweighed every other aspect about this draft for Poles, who showed good discipline in following that philosophy.
Neither overspending his scarce draft capital to trade into the first round for a wide receiver the fan base clamored for nor moving down in the second round with one of his two picks at No. 39 or No. 48 made sense. At those spots, Poles needed to follow the draft board rather than succumb to public pressure and find immediate starters capable of becoming playoff contributors. He seized those opportunities.
Drafting Kyler Gordon out of Washington gave Eberflus a sturdy, physical cornerback with versatility that makes him either a good fit outside in the Cover-2 defense opposite Jaylon Johnson or at the nickel spot. One NFL scout reasonably wondered if Gordon was higher on the Bears’ board than some others because of their scheme. It’s a fair question.
Taking Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker nine spots later admittedly came as a bigger surprise. From the day he was hired, Poles has preached about the importance of the offensive line yet passed on picking an offensive tackle he easily could've justified at No. 48. Instead, the Bears addressed a more glaring need the way rebuilding teams tend to do. You’ve got to start somewhere, and the Bears chose the secondary.
In Brisker, the Bears will get a starting strong safety they lacked and possibly a key to reigniting free safety Eddie Jackson’s career. Brisker possesses a reputation for making clutch plays and being a leader with strong character, the type of guy coaches like Eberflus want in the locker room setting an example. Not since Danieal Manning in 2006 had the Bears taken a safety as high as the second round.
In Lovie Smith’s first draft as head coach of the Bears back in 2004, the first two picks were defensive tackles Tommie Harris and Tank Johnson. The Bears drafting back-to-back defensive backs in the second round represents a different method of rebuilding the defense but the same idea.
After the Gordon and Brisker, the Bears began emphasizing offense by stockpiling somewhat obscure offensive linemen who need development and an intriguing soon-to-be 25-year-old wide receiver. First, the wide receiver, Velus Jones Jr. of Tennessee, who was in college long enough to be up for tenure. Jones spent four years at USC and two at Tennessee but, as much fun as it is to kid about his age, the only number that matters is this: 4.31 – his 40-yard dash time. The career of Jones likely always will be compared to fellow rookie receivers George Pickens, Alec Pierce and Skyy Moore – all second-rounders on the board when the Bears chose Brisker, as was third-rounder David Bell of Purdue at No. 71 – but the Bears liked his explosiveness.
Jones also can return kicks and punts, a la Cordarrelle Patterson, but please avoid comparing Jones to Deebo Samuel until he actually makes an active game-day roster. At least he'll give new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy a missing speed component for quarterback Justin Fields.
Speaking of Fields, the most excitement he experienced during the draft came in the first round when his 2020 Ohio State wide receiving corps – Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave and Jameson Williams – went consecutively with picks Nos. 10, 11 and 12. Did it make you wonder if Fields made those receivers more dangerous at OSU or the other way around? Understandably, there was less debate around the league over whether the Bears did enough to give Fields more offensive weaponry. The consensus was no. One publication listed Fields among the draft’s biggest losers. Concern seems more valid than heavy criticism; without a first-round pick, the Bears realistically had little chance of finding another Ja’Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson in this draft to give Fields a bona fide No. 1 option. Jones isn’t that polished yet.
With a likely high draft pick in 2023 and loads of salary cap space, chances are the Bears will spend next offseason fixated on finding that No. 1 wide receiver alongside Darnell Mooney. And if Poles and Eberflus have as much time as they clearly do, they realized that overcompensating to address the wide receiver position in the second round represented more of a reach than they felt comfortable making. It’s not a radical thought that Fields will become a better quarterback when the Bears become a more complete team, and they’re more than just a No. 1 wide receiver away from being one.
In the interim, Poles could help his young quarterback’s development immediately by devoting this week to pursuing a veteran free agent wide receiver who remains unsigned. The possibilities include Jarvis Landry, Julio Jones and Will Fuller, all of whom have reasons to still be available – but the Bears aren’t in a position to be picky. They need proven bodies, and Fields might benefit from the presence of an experienced receiver on a roster full of youth and uncertainty.
All four offensive linemen the Bears drafted need developing, with fifth-rounder Braxton Jones of Southern Utah possessing the edge that’s now a prerequisite. Edge rusher Dominique Robinson of Miami of Ohio, a converted wide receiver, gives Eberflus the speed element he craves as well as the MAC linebacker background he shares. Special teamer Trestan Ebner of Baylor could carve out a niche in the kicking game, and seventh-round safety Elijah Hicks of Cal offers intangibles and experience the Bears value. Their final pick of punter Trenton Gill of North Carolina State provided a chuckle but, with the departure of Pat O’Donnell to Green Bay, why not?
By increasing three Day 3 picks to eight, Poles emphasized quantity over quality in an attempt to fill the organization with his kind of players – coachable, irascible kind of guys. In a way, maneuvering to get six picks after the fifth round simply gave Poles a head start on assembling undrafted free agents from a pool of players deeper than usual due to the pandemic. In a way, the three Bears drafted in the sixth round and three in the seventh are the NFL equivalent of preferred walk-ons in college football.
All told, the Bears drafted 11 players with realistic hopes that three to five of them one day will be starters.
Grading drafts within hours of crowning Mr. Irrelevant – commonly referred to as the last pick of every NFL draft – makes little sense despite how tempting it is to do so and how necessary the internet age makes it. But reactions in real time are different than conclusions, which take years to form. Declaring anything definitive now about any team’s draft class seems like reviewing a movie at the moment it is cast and before you see the script.
Until then, focus on the leading men.
This weekend was all about them anyway.
David Haugh is the co-host of the Mully & Haugh Show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on 670 The Score. Click here to listen. Follow him on Twitter @DavidHaugh.