Hub Arkush: Not a bad night's work for Bears on draft's second night, but there are holes

What's the very first thing that comes to your mind when asked about rookie Bears general manager Ryan Poles' first draft?

For me it was “not what I expected.”

Let's start with our annual rite of spring/NFL draft disclaimer: You cannot grade this draft until at least the end of the 2023 season and possibly even until 2024.

What kind of NFL players cornerback Kyler Gordon, safety Jaquan Brisker and wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. will be is a work in progress. No more, no less.

So where “not what I expected” starts is with Poles actually making picks at 39, 48 and 71.

He had indicated a few days before the draft that he hoped to be able to trade down where possible to acquire more picks.

In a draft that set records for most trades in the first round and a second round that began with three of the six picks in front of the Bears traded, Poles was either unable or unwilling to play let's make a deal.

Next, everybody assumed that short of making a tremendous reach, Poles would address his two greatest needs at wide receiver and on the offensive line.

With the exception of his making a tremendous reach for Jones at 71, he did neither.

There are needs everywhere on this football team.

They do include at safety, where there was no starter to pair with Eddie Jackson, and cornerback, where there was decent competition for the spots across from Jaylon Johnson, but no one exciting.

So Gordon and Brisker appear to be impressive additions.

But with priority 1A clearly being enhancing the supporting cast around Justin Fields, the Bears will now go to Day 3 of the draft having done little to nothing here or in free agency to enhance that pursuit.

But if that's what it takes for a successful rebuild ... there was good news too.

The best way to build a championship team is to draft the best player available with every pick you make, and in the case of both Gordon and Brisker, it's quite possible that's exactly what Poles did.

Francis St. Paul, the Bears area scout who did the most work on Gordon, thinks he can be a plug-and-play starter.

“Probably, the confidence he has, you're gonna need that confidence to play that position.

“The movement skill is NFL-ready, to play inside and out. But he has to come out and show it.

“How coach (Matt) Eberflus is, he's not gonna just give it to him. He's gonna need to come out and show it. I think he will.”

Asked what he'd like Bears Nation to know about him Gordon said: “I'm definitely gonna bring a lot of energy. I want you to know that when I come to Soldier Field and I'm there, I just want it to be live and poppin'.

“I just want them to know I'm bringing the energy and I want them to match it.”

The kid definitely has a Pro Bowl ceiling and will most likely get a chance to start climbing toward it immediately.

The same goes for Brisker, who area scout Chris Prescott told us should be really complementary to Jackson and is tough, versatile and physical with great ball skills, and he should arrive NFL-ready.

Most importantly almost every team and analyst I talked to leading up to the draft shared the Bears high upside assessments of both players.

Jones, however, is a different story. His 4.31 40-yard dash speed along with his 6-1, 205-pound frame is unique and he's won an SEC special teams player the year award, but he's a 25-year-old rookie and raw as they come.

Think Cordarrelle Patterson, but he's a long climb from getting there, and that still does a lot more for special teams than it does for Fields.

The downside heading into Day 3 — receiver and offensive line are still glaring needs and the Bears are still without a fourth- or seventh-round pick.

But the upside is that they now have one of the youngest and more promising secondaries in the NFL.

All in all, not a bad night's work, just not quite what we expected and many hoped for.