What’s a good GM?

Our standards are so low for GMs…let’s take a look at the Lions.

Brad Holmes has selected 29 players as general manager of the Detroit Lions across four NFL drafts:

2021 Penei Sewell, Levi Onwuzurike, Alim McNeill, Ifeatu Melifonwu, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Derrick Barnes, Jermar Jefferson

2022 Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams, Josh Paschal, Kerby Joseph, James Mitchell, Malcolm Rodriguez, James Houston, Chase Lucas

2023 Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Sam LaPorta, Brian Branch, Hendon Hooker, Brodric Martin, Colby Sorsdal, Antoine Green

2024 Terrion Arnold, Ennis Rakestraw Jr., Giovanni Manu, Sione Vaki, Mekhi Wingo, Christian Mahogany

He drafted probably the

Best offensive tackle in the NFL and top 3-5? DE (some would argue Hutchinson was on his way to DPOY pre injury)

Top 5 RB/WR/TE.

Potentially pro bowl safeties and defensive tackle.

Serviceable linebackers etc.

He legitimately had ideal drafts in terms of use of capital and having his best picks at the games most important positions.

He spent the most on the most important positions and crushed it.

He avoided bad signings such as Kenny Golladay. He’s had his misses but the talent accumulation on the roster is unreal.

He benefitted from his predecessor investing in the offensive line before.

Let’s look at Ryan Poles

He’s drafted maybe 6? Middle tier or bottom tier starters.

2022: Braxton Jones, Gordon, Brisker

2023: Wright, Dexter, Stevenson

Juries out on Caleb and Rome.

If Caleb is everything we want him to be. All of this looks better…but it’s not even in the same league as Brad Holmes.

Throughout Poles tenure he went out of his way to replace predecessors players for his…this hasn’t worked out cap wise or talent wise.

Nate Davis for James Daniels Swift for Montgomery Edmunds for Roquan Keenan for Mooney

In total he got older, spent more, and got less production.

Even the swap of Mack for Sweat worked great. Both expensive. Both injured. Trade capital washed out. Hopefully Sweat is better in the next 2+ years.

Let’s not even get into the coaching staffs each GM put together…remember the Lions had Anthony Lynn a former HC and replaced him with a young in house assistant to improve.

Campbell is viewed as coach of the year. Both his coordinators will leave for HC jobs.

We fired our HC. Replaced multiple assistants and fired coordinators in season.

Poles is not it. He has had 3 seasons and has been in charge of the two worst losing streaks in Bears history. He’s hired some of the worst coaches in history.

He needs to go. I’m all in for Ben Johnson coming with a Brad Holmes or Les Snead protege or whoever he trusts to build a roster.

Poles has not shown the ability to do that.

If Poles stays owners need to take off any pressure for a fast turnaround. Being on the hot seat can make GMs near sighted and fail at improving the roster.

Pace went from drafting Jaylon Johnson, Cole Kmet and Mooney in 2020 to gambling on Fields w a massive trade and taking a gamble on oft injured Jenkins. .

If Johnson is in the SB or deep playoffs, do we run any risk passing up other candidates waiting for the possibility of him?

Or do we feel our opening is coveted enough we will be the first domino to fall?

Last year we tried signing Ryan Bates as a RFA and it seemed like it was a primary signing for us- one that was supposed to be for an anchor on the line but the Bills matched our offer. Then this year we traded a 5th rounder for him. I don't have to tell any of you- he's been injured pretty much the entire season. The fact that he was a priority signing before and then a trade target the next year, to me, makes him a signature acquisition for Poles (hit or miss).

He is kind of a Shroedinger's Cat: He's in the box, but we don't know if he's good (and Poles is good at evaluating) or if he's bad (and Poles is bad at evaluating).

This hurts us in a few ways. If we KNOW he's good, then we can allocate some more resources to another position instead of trying to get three new starting linemen. Also, if we knew that this player that Poles seemingly has pegged as a diamond in the rough is good, then we can trust his judgment more. We're also looking for a new coach and it has been reported that one of the best coaching candidates wants his contract to be aligned with his GMs... knowing how the Bates test turned out since this was obviously a signature signing for him, would inform whether making that concession to a coach would be worth it with Poles, with another GM, or not at all. Also, with all of the volatility on the interior line, its fair to point out that this was super disruptive to Caleb's development.

Am I reading too much into this?

The Bears historically suck on offense.

The Bears historically thrive on defense.

Hire an offensive HC and we gamble on a DC + defense.

Hire a defensive / neutral HC and we gamble on an OC + offense.

Ben Johnson is the best offensive hire.

My preference would be to take the gimme on offense and let history repeat itself on defense. Not saying it can't work with Vrabel, but we're gambling on the Bears finding an OC which WE NEVER FUCKING DO. Not to mention we have a leg up with Caleb and this offensive unit.

Hire Ben Johnson. Trade down. Build the trenches. Gamble on defense and let's take the north.

Additionally.. a good offensive unit is a great defense. Objectively. A defensive unit cannot say the same for offense.

Scenario 1: Ben Johnson wants to come to Chicago, but demands that Poles be fired.

Scenario 2: Mike Vrabel wants to come to Chicago and is fine to keep Poles, but demands Poles be extended for 4 years

Which would you prefer?

Who do you guys think may be targets for the DL in the offseason? Do you think that they might target Judon after trying to trade for him? He’s had a down year, but the Falcons line sucks overall. If we improve the iDL through the draft and put Judon opposite Sweat maybe they could eat. However Judon is up there in age. After the down year it may be easier to get a reasonable deal done? Idk if it would be a great move, just kinda thinking.

Who else?

My whole life as a Bears fan, all I have known is mediocre offenses and poorly coached teams. Here to show Devin Hester some love because this single moment has been the highlight of my fanhood. Caleb Williams will be a superstar in this league so i’m sure this will change once we get the right coaching but as of right now, lets appreciate the greatest kick returner of all time! What a moment.

We as Bears fans take a natural pride in our history. We have become a meme at this point celebrating the 85 team. We talk about Butkus, Sayers, Payton.. The marketing teams have milked the history to death. It’s because they have no other option, the ownership is simply unable to put together a modern contender. They keep running this scam around celebrating our history hoping(it works) it diverts the attention away from our utter incompetence this millenium.

We have to say no more of this. Relatively speaking, we have “poor” owners. They are only rich off of the Bears. Many other teams have ownership who owns a team as a side quest. Unfortunately we have to deal with the offspring of the true builder of this franchise. It will never change. We need to stop allowing them to milk the past as if it has any resemblance to the current product on the field.

It’s like an abusive spouse gaslighting you by only watching home videos of when it used to be good. ENOUGH!

Forget the 85 bears, stop talking about Butkus and Sayers. Give us a real product or sell to someone who can. Get the hell out of here! We are a joke.

So I wanted to look at the previous years Superbowl and Championship game winners and see if there was a pattern to the HC.

I bolded all the coaches who had offensive backgrounds. If you aren't an Offensive coach then you need a HOF/MVP QB to make the Superbowl (Belichick, Quinn and Rivera). If just falling short of the SB is the goal then you can be an offensive background kinda guy or have an alien at QB (McDermott), alien at RB (Vrabel), win the prior game on a Miracle (Zimmer), have a HOF QB (BB, Harbaugh and Tomlin) or just be Dan Campbell I guess?

All of this to say the most important games of the season are almost always decided by HCs with offensive backgrounds (66%).

I don't think this is an unpopular opinion or needs defending but its clear to me that the bears MUST pursue a HC from an offensive background. It is not lost on me that Vrabel appears on the above list but to me that is the exception that proves the rule. Would love to see y'alls thoughts

This is your rooting guide going into week 15.

Dropping to 4-10 would increase the Bears chances at landing a top 5 draft pick.

There are three results the Bears need to help improve their draft pick:

Jets over Jaguars. Titans over Bengals. Panthers over Cowboys.

Just saw this. Recorded on my phone and threw it up on YouTube. Sorry for the crap quality.

https://youtu.be/PnHpkzuFRC0?si=fB2bZBVwWhUUOw3p

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/12/13/chicago-bears-ryan-poles-future/

The whole article is worth a read, but this point is damning to all involved in the hire and retention of Eberflus.

But the Bears’ initial union with Eberflus elicited more shrugs around the NFL than commendations. Multiple league sources have told the Tribune that, had the Bears not hired Eberflus, the Colts were set to fire him, and he quite possibly might have had to seek a position coach role elsewhere in the league.

Instead, Poles handed him the Bears head coaching role.

Said one league source: “When you talk about trying to find the next hot guy at such an important time for your franchise, the Bears should have been asking themselves, ‘Who else really wants (Eberflus)?’ He was red-flagged to fail immediately.”

Sorry for the low quality meme but I had to speak up about this

https://preview.redd.it/lm73qt1yam6e1.png?width=885&format=png&auto=webp&s=6b681640cf6aaa732eb8d11a88025d6b20dbd7c3

WASH, GB, MIN, DET, IND may have different outcomes with a better HC. At least 2 are wins and Bears are 6-7, in the hunt with a rookie QB. Id argue they'd be in the playoff hunt with Harbaugh but the Bears owners are the biggest joke in the league. If you reverse the outcomes of the 1 score games, Bears are 8-4. Meaning they're close. You don't do that with an incompetent roster, you do that with incompetent coaching.

Folks, you need to remember this has always been a 5 year plan for Poles. People forget how bad our salary cap and little draft picks we had thanks to Pace. Poles is going to beef up the lines this offseason and Ben Johnson will be the coach to pair with Caleb, Rome and Wright as cornerstones. All 3 picks spent on the lines, with top FA talent. Release Edmunds and spend that freed up money on a stud DT. The skill positions have been addressed and theyll look a lot better. I have not lost confidence in Poles.

https://x.com/bearssznn/status/1867304973576679452