Bears News: Ryan Poles on his pre-draft strategy on No. 1, No. 9 picks |
CHICAGO - It is officially time for the NFL Draft. So, it was also time for general manager Ryan Poles to speak to the media and provide a pre-draft update.
While he did not explicitly say it, it seems almost certain that he and the rest of the team are targeting quarterback Caleb Williams for the No. 1 overall pick. “I feel really good about our process and where we are and where we’re headed. We know what we’re going to do,” Poles said. “(Caleb Williams is a) really intelligent guy. Came across as a really good teammate, easy to talk to, down to Earth. We’ve talked through this process, the whole Hollywood thing. He’s all ball, wants to work, wants to win as a team. That’s the number one thing for him on top of being successful. So, I think the biggest thing is does he fit in our culture and what we’re trying to do, and all signs were that he does.” There have been concerns about Williams’ relative lack of commitment to football and his lofty personal goals. One goal of his is to surpass Tom Brady in Super Bowl victories. Poles appreciates Williams’ high expectations and sees it as something the Bears should do as well. “I think we all should have huge goals. We have huge goals here. Win multiple championships and that’s what we shoot for. You’re more intentional when you have these goals that you shoot (for),” Poles said. “You have to live a certain way, you have to practice a certain way, you have to go about your business a certain way in order to accomplish those. So, if everything is aligned underneath that, that gets me excited.” Chicago has the No. 1 overall pick and the No. 9 pick. There has been much talk about whether the Bears will trade the pick. Poles indicated, however, that they could be open to trading up or down. Nonetheless, whoever they draft must meet certain criteria. “We always are going to look at some key things when we talk about passion for the game, we talk about coachability, dependability, resilience. Those things are going to be consistent from the first overall pick to the seventh round draft pick,” Poles said. “We want guys that have that. We have an indicator, we put a Bear head on their tag, because we call them the Grizzly, the Top Bear. They have those traits. We’re always looking to hit those.” The Bears always have four picks in the draft, which is part of the speculation that has fueled why Chicago may trade down with the No. 9 pick. But Poles feels confident with the number of picks the Bears currently hold and seems open to even losing picks, suggesting that trading up, perhaps to acquire someone like wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who is unanimously the No. 1 receiver in this draft class, would be a good idea. “I feel really good with where we’re at,” Poles said. “If that (adding more picks) happens, that’s great. If we have less, whatever we need to do to accomplish what we’re setting out to do and improve our football team.” Moving down is also in play, although Poles indicated there is a range that Chicago does not want to go outside of. Whatever moves the Bears make, they will not occur until the draft has already commenced. Chicago needs to see what players come off the board before deciding to trade the No. 9 pick. “As the draft unfolds, there’s going to be some indicators that kind of start to educate us on how we need to move to acquire the top talents in this draft,” Poles said. “We need to count the players in certain ranges, and that’s when we would feel uncomfortable if we got outside whatever threshold that is. So, again, it kind of depends on the first couple of picks and how they move, and we’ll kind of count them up and say, ‘Here’s the line. We can’t go past that.’” The NFL Draft starts tonight at 7 p.m. CT on ABC with the Bears on the clock.
